Joke's on You
by J.M. Bowers
Summary: When the Teen Titans East show up in Titan City, Robin and his team make it clear there's only room for one superhero team. But when the two groups mysteriously disappear, it's up to Beast Boy, Aqualad, and Tremm to save their friends... COMPLETE! R&R!
1. A Long Night

*ATTENTION! ATTENTION!* Despite the fact that this is a Teen Titans fanfic, I have managed to sneak in one or two characters under the radar to give BB and his gang a little help. Hopefully, you'll like them. If you don't, well...not much I can do about that ;). Please read and review, and I will get the next set of chapters up in a sort while. Enjoy!

* * *

"So, are we up for blood and guts tonight, or are we feeling a little romantic?"

These were the first words to roll off of Beast Boy's tongue in nearly a half-hour, and he immediately knew that he was going to regret them.

A half-hour before, he had suggested to his friends, the superhero team better known as the Teen Titans, that they take a night off from battling ne'er-do-wells and take in a movie at the theater located in downtown Titan City, nearby the local pizza joint. Seemed like a good idea at the time…

Fifteen minutes later, the Cy-Car pulled up alongside the theater. That's when everything started going downhill. It seemed that Cyborg's old team, the Teen Titans East, had stopped in town in preparation to see a national stand-up comedy show featuring comics from across the world – and a few from across the galaxy. Unfortunately, they had picked this night, at this exact time, to see a movie at the theater. Even worse, there were still some residual grudges between the two Titan teams, the main one being that Bumblebee felt that Robin's team was hogging up all the spotlight for themselves.

"You're stealing all our thunder!" That's exactly how Speedy had worded his concern. With that, the two teams began a blame game, insulting one another while simultaneously trying to rep their own group.

Beast Boy sighed, shaking his head in embarrassment. This had been going on for the past fifteen minutes, bringing time all the way up until he had said that fateful line. Now, the eyes of the Titans East and West were upon him like hawks. Granted, BB was all for getting attention, but as of this moment he felt like a criminal mere moments away from execution. Summing up all his courage, he decided to play referee.

"Listen, guys," he began, slowly. "The movies start in five minutes, and none of you are making anything easier by causing such a big scene –" the speech was interrupted by a loud RRRRRR sound. It seemed that the Titan's stomach had chosen this moment to speak up in defense of its' owner. " – plus, I'm getting really hungry," he added, in a whiny voice, before continuing. "So, why don't we just shake hands, go inside, choose a film, buy some Swedish Fish and a couple of Iccees, and we'll leave everything at that, okay?"

The silence was deafening as the Titans considered what had been said. Beast Boy fidgeted, feeling a lot like a guy who had just farted on an elevator and was now trying to pass the blame…only this wasn't as funny.

Finally, Robin broke the silence. "You know, BB's right," he said to the others. "There's no need for any of this. We should stop trying to one-up each other and just enjoy our night off for a change."

"Oh, really?" Bumblebee scoffed, clearly annoyed. "So, the big bad Titan leader is just going to listen to the lowest guy on the totem pole?"

The Boy Wonder narrowed his eyes into slits. "At least _I _listen and consider ideas that are proposed to me by my teammates, One-Girl-Army!" he shot back.

The girl's face burned, but her tongue remained just as sharp. "What's that supposed to mean, Bird-Boy?" she quipped.

Now it was Robin's face that was burning. "Don't call me that!" he shouted, angrily.

"Cu-Caw! Cu-Caw!" Speedy called out jokingly, flapping his arms up and down like wings. "Look at the pretty birdie!"

"Who are you callin' 'birdie'?" Raven growled, her eyes glowing white from beneath her hood.

With that, the shouting and the accusations starting flying once again. Seeing all his hard work go to waste, Beast Boy threw his hands up in despair.

"Well, I tried," he muttered to himself as he turned and headed inside the theater.

* * *

The refuge of the movie theater provided some relief from the noise outside, but did nothing to stem the indignity of a bunch of superheroes throwing insults at one another like a playground throwdown. Beast Boy could feel his face growing redder as other people were staring at him. On any other day, it would have been him embarrassing the Teen Titans, not the other way around. Now he understood how they felt when he was doing something stupid. Still, at least he has escaped the blame game…

"Hey, where do you think you're off to, 'Garfield'?" a voice called out mockingly from behind him. The shape shifter grimaced. So much for that.

"Man, what do you want with me?" he asked, turning around.

As he expected, there stood Aqualad, now a member of Teen Titans East, and formerly the guy who had shown up Beast Boy on more than a few occasions. He had a few habits which annoyed the Titan, the main one being his ability to make both Raven and Starfire swoon with his very appearance and hang on his every word. Beast Boy couldn't get that type of attention from them if he were on fire. As far as this guy was concerned, BB was certain he was no Antonio Banderas. At Aqualad's side was none other than Tremm the Fishboy, his perpetual shadow.

"Nice little speech outside there, champ," the aquatic superhero said, smirking. "To be honest, I was just waiting for you to screw it up."

"I don't need your help with that!" The words flew off of Beast Boy's tongue before his brain had a chance to proofread them.

That remark sent Aqualad and Tremm into a bout of laughter. "No, I guess you don't after all, eh, BB?" the boy said, smiling.

The shape shifter just sighed, and mentally kicked himself for allowing himself to be played like that. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

"…and another thing-" Robin's mouth shut as he heard footprints scurrying through the alleyway near the theater. The boy knew that nobody goes for a evening jog through the backstreets of Titan City unless they either had a death wish or were up to something a little less kosher.

"Guys, did you hear that?" he asked quietly, looking around.

"Boy, the only thing I can hear is the mindless dribble coming out of your mou-!" Bumblebee was cut off as Robin uttered a loud "SHHH!" and put his finger up – the universal code for 'shut up, something's happening'. However, this served only to piss the Titan off even more. "Boy, Don't you 'SHHH' me!" she said, defiantly.

"Just shut up and LISTEN!" The Boy Wonder hissed through his clenched teeth.

For a few moments, the two bickering teams fell silent, their ears open to catch all the sounds around them, waiting for something that could mean trouble. However, the footsteps Robin had heard had faded into the night, and the city seemed nearly as quiet as they were.

"Well, that was certainly a complete waste of time-!" Raven's words were cut off as the teens were enveloped in a blinding white light emanating from the alleyway. Temporarily blinded, Robin quickly shielded his eyes with his cape, as Raven followed suit by pulling her hood down. The others were not as fortunate.

"AHHH! Jeez! Stupid night vision mode," Cyborg yelled, clutching his face. "Why'd I ever install that da-!" The voice trailed off as the mechanical man's silhouette disappeared from the light.

"CYBORG!" Robin called out. As he reached out, he saw both Bumblebee and Speedy sink back into the dark void beyond the light. "What's happening! Guys, report!"

"Robin, we need a way out of heeerreeeee!" Raven cried out as two hands gripped her shoulders. Within a moment, she was gone, along with Mas and Menos.

As the Titan finally found his bearings, he turned – only to see Starfire struggling against an unseen force. "ROBIN!" she screamed "HELP!" But it was too late. The Boy wonder watched helplessly as the Tamaranean disappeared into the blackness.

"STARFIRE!" he shouted, charging towards the point where she had slipped away. However, he only got a few steps before the back of his head exploded in immense pain, forcing him to the ground.

Then… darkness.


	2. There's Something New

The tinted windows of the theater were designed to prevent light from entering the lobby, thereby cutting down on the management's electric bill during the scorching summers. So, as can be expected, they did not allow the blinding light that had enveloped the Titans into the building where Beast Boy and Aqualad continued to trade insults, woefully unaware of their friends' fates.

BB frowned at the state of his situation. So far, he had gone through an entire book of insults, and rattled off every "yo mama" joke he had memorized by heart, and still Aqualad was striking back. Knowing he was out of steam, the boy opted to end the fight with a zinger.

"You know, dude, I'm sure you'd probably have a girlfriend by now if you stopped trying to steal everyone else's!" he said. Hearing only silence, the Titan triumphantly strode towards the exit, confident he had gotten the last word. Unfortunately, the silence had only been a dramatic pause, as Aqualad stepped up to the plate with his own fastball.

"True, true," he said, as he and Tremm tailed Beast Boy to the door, "but you know something? I'm willing to bet that my girlfriend wouldn't busy herself with trying to kill everyone around her!"

The boy stopped dead in his tracks, standing in the doorway of the building. That final remark had struck a nerve, and practically ripped a hole open in his heart. In his attempt to one-up the shape shifter, Aqualad had treaded on forbidden waters by referencing the other's ill-fated relationship with the emotionally damaged Terra.

Seeing the boy visibly shaken, the hero wondered if he had gone too far with that last remark. He got his answer as Beast Boy grabbed him by his costume and hurled him unceremoniously onto the unforgiving sidewalk. Yep, he had gone too far.

"Don't you ever talk about Terra like that again!" BB exploded, spit flying from his lips. Aqualad looked up at the enraged Titan, unsure of what was going to happen next.

"Listen up, Aqua-Turd," the green boy said, pointing a finger mere inches from his face. "if you ever disgrace her like that again in my presence, I swear I'm gonna break your fu…"

Beast Boy's mad tirade fizzled out as he realized where he was standing. He also realized _who _had been standing in this spot a few minutes before, and who _wasn't_ there now. Looking around, a sense of panic overtook his anger.

"What the-?" he stammered, glancing around in all directions. "Hey! Where'd everybody go?!"

Aqualad got back to his feet. Quietly, he and Tremm stood and watched as Beast Boy starting peering into trash cans and looking under cars for their missing friends. As he started opening newspaper stands, the Titans East member decided it was time to step in.

"BB, calm down, would ya?" he said, strolling over to the frantic boy. "Look, I'm willing to bet that the guys just made up and took a ride down to the pizza place for a slice. There's no reason to get all worked up."

BB looked at him, his brow furrowed. "No," he said. "The Cy-Car's still here."

"Maybe they walked over there," Aqualad offered.

"No way," Beast Boy said, matter-of-factly. "Cyborg doesn't leave his car just anywhere – especially in this neck of the neighborhood. The last time he did that, somebody stripped the car down to the chassis. They even took the steering wheel!"

"Wow, that's thorough," Aqualad said, surprised.

Beast Boy, however, had resumed his mad hunt for the Titans. "Dudes, this isn't funny!" he shouted, befuddled as to where they could have disappeared to in such a hurry. If it had been an emergency, he would have heard about it on his communicator. So would have Aqualad and Tremm. "Come on out, you guys! Ollie-Ollie-Oxen Freeee!"

It was at that moment that he noticed something shimmering in the moonlight near the corner of his eye. An object was lying haphazardly on top of a cardboard box at the opening of the alleyway. As Beast Boy reached for it, a cold fear gripped his chest.

"Robin's utility belt," he said, slowly. "Oh man, this is bad."

"Uh, I'm a little fuzzy on this whole 'bad' thing," Aqualad said, a concerned look on his face. "How 'bad' are we talking here?"

BB turned and looked at the fellow Titan, a somber expression on his face. "Robin doesn't go anywhere without this thing on," he said, speaking from experience. "Heck, I'm willing to bet he showers with it on. He does with his mask. The simple fact that it's here and Robin isn't can only mean one thing…"

"Somebody's kidnapped the Titans!" Aqualad finished, putting two and two together as the realization hit him hard.

"Exact-a-mundo," the shape shifter said.

For a moment, the three heroes stood in silence, unsure of their next move. Then, a bulb went off inside BB's head. "Wait!" he said, smiling. "We can use Cyborg's computer back at the tower to track their communicators and zero in on their position! It's just like how we found Raven a few months back!"

Aqualad looked at the boy with an eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Why'd you have to find Raven?" he asked.

"Uh…" the Titan stammered, realizing he had bitten off a bit more than he could chew, "That's…that's really not our concern right now. Right now, we have to find the Titans!"

The other two nodded in agreement, and with that they made a beeline for the tower looming in the distance.

* * *

As Robin regained consciousness, he was greeted with a world of pain. His head throbbed rhythmically to the beating of his heart. At the same time, the hair of his arms rose up in response to the cold steel shackles that anchored him firmly in place.

'Well, this is an unwelcome surprise,' he thought to himself.

Testing the shackles, he soon learned that the breaking point of the steel was far beyond what he could muster. Resolved not to waste his energy on a fruitless endeavor, he relaxed his muscles and simply waited for what was to come. Taking in the feedback from his five senses, the Boy Wonder realized he was currently stretched out on a reclined table, his arms pulled tightly over his head He grunted as he felt the strain on his body. 'I'm all for yoga, but this is ridiculous,' he thought.

As his eyes adjusted to the moonlight shining through the nearby windows, Robin sensed that he was not alone. The groans of other individuals coming to were becoming more prevalent. 'Guess the other Titans are with me on this one,' he thought.

Suddenly, the Titan's mind snapped to attention. He recognized the layout of the building – at least, what he could make out of it in the shadows. This was the very same abandoned warehouse that he and the other Titans had ransacked rescuing Raven from the clutches of Control Freak just a few months before!

'Hmm, looks like they fixed that wall back up,' he thought, remembering how much damage they had caused on the first go-around. 'Makes me wonder if that fat little freak's behind our current predicament as well.'

Almost as if on cue, the screeching sound of a loudspeaker being activated brutalized the boy's ears. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages," a nasally voice shouted, echoing throughout the building and waking up any Titans that hadn't already regained consciousness. "Titan City is proud to present a special show for all in attendance! Now, let's hear a round of applause for everybody's favorite host…

Heeeerrrreeee's Control Freak!"

BZZING! Robin and the other Titans were blinded as fluorescent lights all around the building sprang to life. As the Boy Wonder squinted, he could barely make out the image of a man in front of him. Strange, he could have sworn the figure looked like a cross between a Klingon and Walker, Texas Ranger…

"Control Freak," he said, recognizing the rotund villain. "Never a pleasure."

Freak smiled. "Thank you! Thank you!" he said, playing to the crowd in his mind. "Oh please, you're too kind! Oh, I love you, too?"

As the fat man was busy giving himself a hand, Robin scanned his surroundings. It seemed that the other Titans had been restrained similar to himself, with the exception of Cyborg. His arms were pinned right to his side by a massive steel bracket. Raven was on his right, shaking the cobwebs loose from her head, while Starfire laid to his left, still unconscious. She was so close to him, the boy could almost smell her perfume. Cyborg was positioned next to her, but his size made it impossible for the Titan to look down the rest of the way. He rationalized, no doubt, that the others were shackled further on down the line.

He frowned. All of them had been positioned in front of a makeshift stage, with a giant control box centered directly in front of them like a podium. 'So this is what he's been doing with all his time," the Titan thought. 'I have to admit though, I'm quite impressed with his craftsmanship."

"R-Robin?" a soft voice moaned out from beside the boy, catching his attention.

"Starfire!" he exclaimed, recognizing her voice. "Are you okay?"

The Tamaranean managed a small smile. "I…have been better," she stammered, still trying to shake off the grogginess.

"Ah, so we're finally awake, aren't we?" a taunting voice came from the stage in front of the Titans.

With little choice else, the teens looked ahead as their captor took his moment in the spotlight.


	3. Please Stand By

Control Freak was feeling good. His little plan had gone off without a hitch so far, and he was pretty excited that nothing had blown up in his face thus far. Surveying the incapacitated Titans before him, a Cheshire grin formed on his face.

"Please, please, hold your applause," he said mockingly, fully aware that none of the Titans could move their arms, let alone clap their hands. "There's plenty of me to go around."

"You can say that again," Robin said, simply unable to resist firing such a good shot.

Anger flamed in the fat man's eyes, but only for a moment. Instead, he laughed off the Titan's remark. "Funny man, Robin!" he cackled, wagging a finger at the boy. "You know, you always were my favorite."

"I'm flattered," Robin said, rolling his eyes. "So, what's your evil scheme this time around?"

"Ooo, let me guess!" Cyborg said, grinning. "You're going to make us watch your homemade version of the original Star Wars trilogy, right?"

The villain's jaw dropped, a look of indignation stapled to his face. "Hey!" he cried out, furiously. "No! Not cool! I worked really hard on those costumes! I mean, do you know how many pounds of dog hair I had to dig out of the dumpster behind the grooming place to make that Chewbacca getup?"

Cy's well-timed remark prompted a few chuckles from the captive Titans. Control Freak had always been high-strung, and the moment anyone bad-mouthed a legendary sci-fi epic, he practically turned into the Incredible Hulk. Even Robin smirked, remembering how he had enticed him into a fistfight simply by stating that he considered Jean-Luc Picard the better Enterprise captain. The look on Freak's face had been priceless – both before and after getting stomped by the Titans.

"Well, if this is how you're planning on tormenting us, we just all might die laughing!" Bumblebee said, grinning.

"SHUT UP! I can't see you, I can't hear you, la-la-la-la-la!" Control Freak's voice was reminiscent of a toddler who just had his favorite toy taken away.

Before the heckling could continue, another voice broke out over the commotion: "That is quite enough from all of YOU!" The surprise of another individual in the building brought the Titans to a silence.

Robin's brow furrowed as he heard the refined, British accent reverberate off the walls of the warehouse. Only one villain he knew talked like that…

"Mad Mod," he said, watching as the aging villain calmly strolled out onto the stage and into the spotlight. Forever stuck in the 60's, Mod looked like what might have happened when the Beatles met LSD. His hipster glasses and his salad-bowl cut mop top couldn't hide the fact that he was far behind the times and, more often than not, way out of his league. Robin made a mental note that this was the first time in quite a while that the British villain had even made an appearance, let alone perpetrate and evil scheme.

"Good to see you here, Robin," Mod said, smiling weakly. "I see you still have the wonders of youth at your disposal."

"And you've got a date with an early bird special," the Titan retorted. "You know, I never would have suspected a guy like you ever teaming up with a complete klutz of a villain like Control Freak. And here I thought you British people had class…"

Although the normally pale face of Control Freak burned like the midday sun over Mercury, the old gentlemen simply smiled. "In this world, you take whatever you can get," he said. "Besides, this new plan our good friend Control Freak has whipped up was so incredibly interesting, I just couldn't help myself."

The villain's remark piqued even Robin's curiosity. "What kind of plan are you guys running here?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing into slits.

Freak grinned, and let loose with a hearty, booming laugh that practically shook the building. "Oh, you'll know soon enough, _mon fruer,_" he said, adding in a little bit of mock French a'la Gambit. "You'll know soon enough…"

* * *

"So, you got a lock yet on the Titans' location?" Aqualad said, impatiently as Beast Boy continued pounding on the sides of the Tower's computer console. The two had been stuck at Titan Tower for some time as BB tried his best to gain access to the Titans' supercomputer. Since, the only two people who had access to it were currently indisposed, the three had found themselves locked out of the system.

"Just shut up and let me think!" the shape shifter muttered, punching keys in a random order as the monitor repeatedly blurted out "ACCESS DENIED!"

"So I can safely assume that you're still experiencing technical difficulties?" Lad asked, smirking.

"You're going to be experiencing some physical difficulties if you don't shut your trap!" Beast Boy shot back. Computers had never been the Titan's strong suit. In fact, the last time he fiddled with a computer he uploaded a virus into Cyborg's mainframe. As he crawled under the table, the boy chuckled to himself, remembering just how much Cyborg loved waffles during that episode (Author's note: no pun intended). Still, that incident had led to Robin revoking BB's access to the computer…something he was regretting now.

Suddenly, he heard Aqualad called out is name, loudly. Jerking up, he slammed the back of his head against the hard steel table. "OWW! Jeez!" he squealed, cradling his head. Through the pain, he heard his name being called again. Quickly, he scampered down from under the table, and stared up at the hero. "What?" he asked quickly, a tinge of panic in his voice.

"How's it comin'?" Lad said, grinning.

Beast Boy growled. Played again. "Well, things were going just fine until some annoying butt monkey started calling my name!" he said, angrily.

"You don't say," Aqualad said, surveying the room. "Hmm, wonder who that could have been?"

"Me, too," the boy said, glaring at his reluctant superhero partner.

Looking back up at the screen, the constant flashing of the ACCESS DENIED message irritated Beast Boy to no end. "Stupid piece of junk!" he shouted as he gave the device a swift kick. Suddenly, the message disappeared, and a map of Titan City popped up in its' place. Somehow, the Titan had just managed to bypass the security system!

"It's working…" he said cheerfully, pointing up at the monitor.

"Hey, go figure," Aqualad said, stunned. "I thought that trick only worked in the movies."

"Not when you're Beast Boy, leader of the Teen Titans!" BB said, triumphantly.

"_Acting_ leader," Lad reminded him.

"Whatever," the shape shifter said. "I told you I'd get this thing up one way or the other!"

"Yeah you did," the aquatic hero said. "And it only took you half an hour. If you hurry up and initiate that scan, we just might be able to find their bodies."

"Ha-ha, very funny," BB said, the smile fading from his face. Although the three of them were only joking, none of them wanted that scenario to play out.

'If anything were to happen to them…' the green hero shook his head, purging that thought from his mind. 'No! That's not gonna happen! I've got to stay positive!'

Quickly, the Titan ran a trace on any and all communicator signals with in the city limits. As long as any of them were on and still had power, they would appear on the map. As the sequence counted down, Beast Boy was hoping that they could at least gain a clue about their friends' whereabouts from this data. But, as the scan finished, the three were in for an unpleasant surprise.

"What the…" BB stammered. He quickly rubbed his eyes, and looked at the screen again. Indeed, his eyes had not played a trick on him.

"They're all gathered at one central location!" Aqualad exclaimed. Tremm simply shook his head, visibly confused. "Looks like they're being held in an old building up on the north side of town. Good place for a villain's hangout. Those industrial buildings have been empty for quite some time."

"Industrial buildings?" Beast Boy echoed. Taking a closer look, he made a startling discovery. "Hey, I know exactly where that is! We were there a couple months back!"

"Does that have to do with that incident with Raven?" Lad asked, still wondering why the Titans would have to chase down one of their own.

"Rather not talk about it," BB said, quietly. Now Aqualad knew something was up. Time to push forward.

"Why not?' he asked. "What happened out there?"

Beast Boy sighed. "Look," he said, exasperated, "the reason I don't want to talk about it is because I don't _know_ much about what happened. All I know is that we busted down the wall of that old warehouse and found Control Freak there with Raven."

The Titan paused, wringing his hand together. "Rae was strapped down on some table, half-naked and nearly unconscious," he said. "I swear, I had never seen her so…_helpless_…in my life."

"What did he do to her?" Aqualad asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"Beats me," BB said, shaking his head. "The only person outside of Raven and Control Freak who knew what happened was Robin, and he and Rae have been keeping everything all hush-hush since."

As he finished, the Titan's eyes hardened back up. "That's all in the past now," he said, his jaw set. "Right now, we have a rescue mission to embark on."

Aqualad and Tremm nodded in agreement. "Ready when you are," Lad said.

"Okay, now we know where the Titans are, but we don't know what to expect, so let's not go in all guns blazing and stuff," Beast boy said, doing his best to sound more like Robin…as in trying to sound like he knew exactly what he was doing. "We'll scope the place out, see who's behind this, and signal for backup if the danger's too high. Does that sound like a plan?"

"Like Robin himself would have put it," Lad said, smiling.

"Good, that's what I was aiming for," BB said, relieved. "Now, let's go take our friends back!"

Standing tall and proud, the green hero stuck out his chin in pride. Glancing over at Aqualad and Tremm, he grinned. "I've always wanted to say this…" he said.

Narrowing his own eyes into slits, it was time for Beast's Boy's finest hour to begin.

"TITANS, GO!"


	4. Let the Games Begin

"So are you just planning on keeping us here until we die of anticipation?" Robin asked out loud as Control Freak continued to press buttons on his little podium. The heat from the fluorescent lights were being to make the Boy Wonder sweat, and the shackles hadn't grown any more comfortable.

"Just a few more moments…Hot dog!" The fat man laughed with glee as the control panel lit up. "CF-TV is up and running!"

"Really?" the Titan said. "That's funny. I don't see any cameras."

"Ho-ho-hoo! You're a real pistol, aren't ya today?" Freak laughed, stepping away from his control box. "I guess that, since everything's now in working order, it's for the big revealing of the plan. Drum roll, please!" Glancing over at Mad Mod, the rotund villain beckoned to him with one hand. "Care to give them the introduction, Mod old bean?" he asked.

The British villain stepped from his position over by the door, and smiled. "It would be my pleasure," he said. Stepping into the spotlight, the older gentleman cleared his throat.

"As one with the knowledge of both science and madness can rightfully guess, creating a weapon of mass destruction requires a great deal of personal time, sacrifice, finances, and planning," Mod began, cultivating a presence of a Shakespearean actor while pacing the back and forth across the stage in an allusion to General Patton. "Of course, one can imagine that that WMD's capable of delivering worldwide devastation require a great deal of energy to function properly. Over the years, many great evil minds has researched and experimented with a menagerie of different power sources. During those experiments, we sadly learned that many of these energy sources – solar, wind, water, ethereal – were either very unreliable, highly toxic to all within the vicinity of the source, or were simply too time-consuming and unproductive to even be bothered with."

Ending his methodical pacing, the old man stopped beside Control Freak. The Titans watched as his usually somber expression bore a slight grin. 'That's was, of course," he said, placing a hand on Freak's shoulder, "until this bright-eyed and bushy little man concocted a method of obtaining and storing a type of energy that was quick, reliable, easy to collect, renewable, and – to be quite honest, children – entertaining to observe."

Patting the young villain on the shoulder, Mod nodded approvingly. "You can take it from here, 'old bean'," he said.

Freak grinning rubbing his hands together. "Well, I don't know if I can top that performance, but I'll certainly try," he said, stepping to center stage. Looking down at the Titans, he felt like a god among mortals.

"As you can probably guess, my latest 'WMD' capable of raining fire and brimstone down on cities near and far is still very much in the embryonic stage," he stated, punctuating the word "WMD" with quotation fingers a'la Dr. Evil.

"What's that mean in your own lingo?" Robin asked, his eyes glaring.

"It means…uh…I've…got a picture of it drawn," the villain said. He began patting down his jacket, slowly at first and more frantically as he realized he wasn't sure where the schematic was. "It's…uh…here, someplace," he muttered, looking into his inside pockets. "Ah, here it is!"

A moment later, the Captive Titans were presented with Control Freak's schematic, which looked as if it had been drawn by a three-year-old. "See? That's me," he said, pointing to a crudely drawn stick figure, "and that's what makes the big BOOM-BOOM," he added, shifting his finger to a massive mound of circles and crooked triangles. "Okay, are we all clear on that now?"

"Clear enough," Robin said, holding back a chuckle. "Just one question, though: What exactly is that thing going to do?"

"Well, I…uh…haven't really worked on the finer points of the Boom-Boom yet," Freak said, feeling his face turn red. This was supposed to be his greatest moment, and the Titans were still knocking him down a peg without even touching him! "Look, the stupid weapon doesn't matter right now!" he hollered, crumpling up the paper and throwing over his shoulder. "What does matter is that I've finished the device that's going to net me all the power I need to create an army of robotic minions, preferably without furry hats."

Mad Mod's eyes hardened. That had been a cheap shot in regards to his Royal Guard robots. Still, he was willing to let it slide in anticipation of what was to come.

"And what type of energy are you planning on collecting?" Cyborg asked, quizzically.

The Cheshire grin returned to Control Freak's face. "None other than biothermal energy."

The term met with a sea of blank stares from the Titans. This electrified the villain. 'Oh, this just makes everything so much sweeter," he thought to himself. If there was one thing Control Freak loved to do, it was gushing over his new playthings.

"You see, boys and girls," he began, "biothermal energy is the heat that living beings expel from their bodies on a regular basis. After all, we humans – and our resident aliens - are warm-blooded, and suitable for harvesting."

Stepping back in front of the podium, Freak's Cheshire grin grew even wider. At this point, it threatened to swallow up his entire head. "Take a good look at the chairs all of you are strapped in," he said. "Each one of them a labor of mechanical love, and designed to collect the heat put out by your bodies and feed it into a pressurized containment unit." With a push of the button, the spotlight scanned over to reveal a giant steel drum erected on the right end of the stage, before returning to it's position on Control's Freak's horribly twisted face. "Of course, harvesting energy from you in your current states would be a long, arduous, and utterly boring process. But don't fret just yet, kiddies! I personally designed a little…sumin-sumin to help speed the process along."

"What are you talking about, Control Freak?" Robin said. His tough exterior hid the fact that his heartbeat was beginning to accelerate.

"Well, you see Robin, the human body tends to release a great deal of biothermal energy when an individual finds himself, or herself on some occasions, in a highly stressful situation." Freak explained, matter-of-factly. "Now, fear is an ultimate trigger. So is pain. So, one could potentially achieve a good harvest of energy by threatening said individual with a multitude of dangerous and pointy weapons, and an even greater amount from inflicting a massive amount of physical pain…"

Control Freak paused, letting his words hang in the air and their meaning sink deep into the Titans' psyche. Mas and Menos looked visibly shaken, as did Speedy. Bumblebee had a defiant look in her eyes but she seemed a little green around the gills. On the other hand, Robin, Raven, and Cyborg barely batted an eyelash. Starfire seemed shaken, but definitely not stirred. 'Well, that nearly worked,' the villain thought to himself. But he wasn't too bothered with the outcome. He still had an ace up his sleeve, and it was time to call.

"Of course, I'm not really into blood and guts and screaming and…bad things," he said. Plus, killing is just a really messy affair, and I honestly don't want to have to be stuck mopping human, Tamaranean, and Azorethian blood off the floor…and the walls…quite possibly the ceiling…"

At this point, not a single Titan was feeling good about his or her night ending well, especially when the topic of their lives ending was part of the fray. Control Freak could see the rising panic, and it did his heart good.

"Come on relax," he said, chuckling. "Like I said, the only blood and gore I enjoy is on film." That remark did little to quench the Titans' anxiety.

"What? You guys don't believe me?" the villain said, astonished. "Why don't you ask Raven here?" he stated, pointing a finger in the direction of the young priestess. "She learned a lot about me the last time we had a little chat."

As the members of Titans East pondered the meaning of Control Freak's words, the hairs on the back of Raven's neck were starting to stand up. Her stomach turned over and over as she recalled what had occurred the last time she fell into a trap like this. This was déjà vu all over again. The cold metal table, the shackles, Freak's menacing presence. It was nearly too much for her to bear.

"No," she whispered to herself. "Please…not again…"

As Raven struggled to control her panic, Control Freak let out a contented sigh. "Anyways," he continued on, "I have a little method of biological stimulus that I have been just dying to try out on all of you. Unfortunately, I'm experiencing what economists would call a 'negative cash flow', and therefore I have 'accrued a severe deficit in staff resources', meaning in layman's term that I had no lackeys to send out in order to bring you to me. However, Mad Mod kindly donated a percentage of his resources to my cause, including the usage of his personal robotic army."

Robin grunted. 'So that was Mad Mod's Royal Guard back in the alleyway,' he thought. 'Guess they finally got upgraded.'

"Of course," Freak's voice continued, bringing the Boy Wonder's mind back to the present, "I'm sure that some of you may have noticed a couple empty chairs in the vicinity. If you haven't, feel free to look around."

Robin craned his neck as far out as he could, and looked over Cyborg's prone form. He managed to catch a glimpse of Bumblebee a little further down, but indeed there was an empty gar between the two Titans. 'Wait a minute,' Robin thought. 'Beast Boy! He was inside the theater at the time of the attack! So were Aqualad and Tremm! That means that they're still out there!'

Control Freak uttered a 'tsk-tsk' sound, and rapped loudly on the top in the control panel, much as a stern teacher would do to regain order in the classroom. "Yep, a few good men got away," he said, shaking his head. "Oh, well. You know what they said about the best laid plans. Still, I think we have plenty enough individuals to conduct this little experiment. So now, for the $64,000 dollar question and the answer to your fates, tell me: What action could I, Control Freak, possibly take against you, the Teen Titans Near and Far, that would:

A: raise your stress levels significantly,

B: slowly break your will to fight, and

C: will not leave one single mark on your entire body, hmm? Any ideas? Show of hands? Need a lifeline?"

Raven's mind was electric. She was now fully aware of what was about to happen, and she knew her friends would be unprepared for it. They were also unaware of how effective Control Freak's particular method of torment would be on them. Despite herself, the girl shuddered under the bright lights. "Oh, God," she said, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face.

"Hmm? I didn't quite catch that, Rae," Control Freak called out, grinning. "Do you happen to have an answer for us?"

Robin looked over at his friend, and was stunned to see that she seemed to be having some sort of panic attack. Her chest heaved up and down, and the veins on her legs seemed to pop out of her skin. Right then, the Titan knew that something seriously bad was about to happen…to all of them.

"You…you sick freak," Raven said, gritting her teeth. "I didn't think you'd have the gall to do this…to all of us…"

"Raven, what are you talking about?" The Boy Wonder asked, feeling his own throat begin to tighten in fear.

"He's…he's…going to…I don't believe this..." the girl stammered. Taking a deep breath, she sought to finish her line:

"He's going to tickle torture us."

* * *

"OHH! DING-DING-DING-DING! We have ourselves a winner!" Control Freak shouted gleefully, dancing around the stage. "Mod, give that lady a cigar!"

"I don't smoke," the British villain said, quietly, before adding softly, "Well…not cigars, anyway…"

Meanwhile, the Titans were in a state of shock and disbelief. Was Raven right? Did Control Freak actually plan to tickle torture them into submission?

"Tickle torture?" Bumblebee asked, utterly confused. "Tell me he did not just say 'tickle torture'!"

"_Sí, el asno gordo dijo que él planea cosquillear tormento nosotros!"* _Mas said, shuddering as he said so.

Robin, meanwhile, sat with a stupefied look on his face. 'Tickling?' he though to himself. 'So, he's going to try and use the same trick he used on Raven against all of us. Well, let's see him try.'

"Man, is this guy serious?" Cyborg said, rolling his eyes. "Come on! I mean, who's afraid of a little tickling?"

"It is not as simple as you might perceive, Cyborg" Starfire said, her breath quickening. "Your statement is correct; not one person is afraid of a little tickling. However, when that little becomes much larger, and there is no end in sight from the sensations your mind is receiving…well, there exists a good reason to fear a large tickling."

"But it's so juvenile!" the mechanical man groaned. "I think that the class of villains we face nowadays should take their evil just a little bit more seriously, okay? I mean, Slade's never threatened us with tickling, now has he?" He sighed, shaking his head. "What do you think, Star?"

The Tamaranean smiled weakly. "I am thinking that I am very ticklish," she said, sadly.

Mad Mod stepped up beside Control Freak, and smiled down at the Titans. "An appropriate torture for a bunch of spoiled brats, I think," he said. "CF, I think it's about time these little wankers got what they have coming to them!"

"You think so," Freak asked, smirked.

"Well, I think not!" Starfire growled.

Mod recoiled in horror as he saw the girl's eyes glow green. "You idiot!" he shouted at his cohort. "You forgot to account for her eye beams!"

A look of shock covered Control Freak's face. "I did?" he asked in disbelief. "I did!"

Robin's eyes narrowed. Freak and the Titans had scuffled on enough occasions, so there was no excuse for the villain not to know about Starfire's powers. The chance that he suffered a complete brain fart didn't seem likely, either. Something was wrong here…

"I can't believe I screwed up this bad!" Freak shouted, pulling on his hair. "Oh no! Whatever shall we do?" Despite the tension of the situation, the tone of his voice sounded off. "Okay, okay! You guys win! I guess I'll just have to let you go…"

As the fat man pressed a button on the control panel, there was a moment of silence. Suddenly, two small tendrils snaked out from the top of Starfire's chair. The girl gasped as the tendrils wrapped around her head and pulled it back down. Once the Tameranean's head was in place, a reinforced shackle snapped in place right over her eyes, pinning her head in place.

'Damn,' Robin thought. 'I knew it!'

Mad Mod, meanwhile, was listening to his heart pound like a jack hammer in his chest. He was also listening to the manic laughter of Control Freak as the rotund villain was pounding on the edge of the podium.

"AHHH-HAHAHAHAHAHAH! That was priceless!" Freak said, pointing at the old man. "You should have seen the look on your face! I thought you were going to piss yourself!"

Clapping his hands together, he grinned. "Ohh, that is going to be classic," he said.

"You despicable little monkey!" Mod growled, his breathing slowly returning to normal. "I can't believe you let her come so close to attacking us!"

"Oh, come off it, Miss Marples," Freak said, shaking his head. "The only way to live life to the fullest is to do it dangerously."

"So says the little man who spends all day behind a computer," the British villain retorted.

"Ooo!" the fat man said, dangling his fingers. "Isn't it time for tea and crumpets?"

The two spent a moment staring at one another.

"You, uh, getting hungry?" Control Freak said, raising an eyebrow.

"Now that you mention it, I could eat," Mad Mod, said.

"Here," the villain said, reaching into his pocket. The next thing he knew, Mod felt a small wad of bills being pushed into his hands. "Head out, get whatever you want, and get back here as soon as possible. I…wouldn't want you to miss the show."

The older gentleman smirked. "Try not to wear them out before I get back," he said.

"I'll try," Freak said. "But I'm not making any promises."

As Mod headed out, the tubby bad boy turned his attention back towards the captive Titans. 'Well, I think we've had enough conversation for now," he said, procuring a small remote from the inside pocket of his jacket and holding it over his head. "Now, I remember Little Miss Sass Mouth over here…" the villain paused, pointing a finger over at Bumblebee, "saying that if I kept tormenting you the way I was going, you'd probably die laughing. Well, I'm gonna hold you to that. So let's get to it!"

As Control Freak pressed down on the activation button, the Titans' night was about to go from bad to worst.

* * *

For our Non-Spanish speaking friends, here's what Mas said, basically:

*Rough Translation: Yes, the fat donkey says he plans to tickle torture us!


	5. Die Laughing

Raven broke out into a cold sweat, her eyes widening in horror as a small group of mechanical hand slithered from underneath her chair. Despite her fear, the girl didn't bother trying to fight back with her spells – she could feel her energy being subdued by whatever devices Control Freak had built into her restraints, just like he had done on the previous occasion. Grimacing, she concluded that each of the Titans' chairs had been designed to override their unique powers and abilities. The fat little freak had certainly outdone himself this time.

The priestess swallowed hard as two of the hands slowly slid her boots off, exposing her soft, ultra-sensitive feet. 'That fat little monkey is going to milk us all like we were cattle!' she thought, her brow furrowing. 'Well, he didn't break me the first time, and he certainly won't hear me beg for mercy this time around!'

Raven had no qualms about whether or not she could resist the tickling sensations on her body. She was well aware that she couldn't. Any moment now, those fiendish hands would begin prodding her body, and it wouldn't take too much to reduce her from an emotionally distance spell caster to a giggly little girl. But Raven's will had saved her is more dire situations, and it was all she could rely on now.

The Titan's body practically stood on end as two stiff feathers made contact with her ticklish soles, while other hands began stroking her upper body and legs in tandem. The silence lasted for mere moments, as a deep, bubbly laugh emerged from her chest, taking the floodgates down with it as it came. Falling back to the table, The Girl from Azareth succumbed to the torture.

* * *

'Raven's laughing already,' Robin though to himself, watching the mechanical hands of his own device busied themselves with preparation. 'I guess she's just as ticklish as she said she was.'

The Boy Wonder grimaced, his ears ringing with the laughter of Raven in one ear and Starfire's shrieking in the other. The Tamaranean hadn't stood a chance, exploding into hysterics the moment the fingers and the feathers had touched her exposed flesh. Her ticklishness level surpassed practically everyone in the vicinity, and the use of such a torture against her had planted the odds highly in Control Freak's favor.

On the opposite side of Cyborg, Mas and Menos howled as they discovered a torment unlike any they had ever felt before. Speedy, on the other hand, was biting his bottom lip to keep from losing control. That, however, failed spectacularly moments later. As for Bumblebee, her tough callous exterior had melted away the moment those feathers started working their magic. Squealing in agony, her table was nearly vibrating as she bucked, trying desperately to escape from the sensations wracking her brain.

Sitting nearly dead center was Cyborg. His nearly-metallic body had rendered using tickling against him useless. He surmised that the only reason he was here was to prevent him from trying to bust the Titans out. But, Control Freak had failed to capture three of them, and the only one Cy had any real hopes for was Beast Boy. He had, after all, led the charge to rescue the Titans and their extended family when the Brotherhood of Evil had hunted them down. However, he had a lot more than just Aqualad and Tremm in tow. Slowly, the cyborg grimaced. The laughter of his friends echoing in the warehouse was starting to become a bother. He desperately wished that his hands were free – partly so he could put an end to Control Freak's twisted little plan, and partly because he wanted to put his fingers in his ears.

Robin clenched his jaw. Although Cyborg would not be susceptible to this kind of stimulus, he was not going to be as lucky. 'Come on, Robin,' he thought, 'there's nothing to be ashamed of. Just about everybody's ticklish somewhere. I've got this…'

The Boy Wonder's eyes shot open, uncertainty filling them. As the machines started exploring his body, he soon realized that, regardless of one's physical strength, attitude, and prowess, there were some things that could bypass all of that. All the muscular strength in the world, the rockiest abs meant nothing if those same abs were ticklish.

As Robin's jaw dropped, and unwilling laughter escaped from his being, he realized too late that Control Freak's method of torture was far more effective that he could have ever imagined.

* * *

Holding up his fist, Beast Boy brought his team to a halt in an alleyway a block or two away from the abandoned warehouse. Sticking to the shadows, the three crouched down, and observed the building.

"Okay, guys," BB said, ready to put his plan into action, "tell me what you see over there."

Aqualad stared, his brow furrowed. "Well, it definitely looks like a building," he deadpanned, after a moment's pause.

The shape shifter frowned. "Brilliant, Holmes," he replied sarcastically. "Whatever would I have done without you?"

Lad smirked. "Man, I can't believe that thing is still standing," he said, eyeing the decaying structure. "Wasn't the city supposed to tear it down a couple years ago?"

"Yeah, but they never go around to it," BB said, sighing. "Guess everyone's afraid of stepping on a rusty nail and getting lockjaw."

Peering around the corners of the alleyway for any sign of trouble, the Titans found the streets to be practically empty. Waving his hand, the green hero led his team across the road and into the shadows of the next alleyway. After repeating it a few more times, the three amigos found themselves standing before the old building.

"Okay, what now, Superdude?" Aqualad asked, looking around.

Scanning the front of the building, Beast Boy spotted a drainage pipe leading up to an open window on the second story of the building. "Going up," he said, pointing our the path to the others.

Quietly, he grabbed the pipe with both hands. After testing it to make sure that it probably wouldn't buckle under their weight, Beast Boy began his ascent. Aqualad and Tremm soon followed suit. The Trip up the side of the building was arduous, however, as the old metal creaked and moaned under the stress of supporting the weight of three teens.

"Hey, BB," Aqualad asked, pausing for a moment on his ascent, "did you eat dinner tonight?"

The question left the Titan rather confused. "Yeah, why?" he asked.

"Because I think this pipe only supports 300 POUNDS!" Lad said, rocking back and forth, shaking the pipe within its restraints.

"Dude! Stop! Not cool!" the green hero said, latching onto the pipe with a death grip while listening to Aqualad's snickering. "You suck!" he added, angrily, shaking his head.

"Oh come on, you know you love it," the aquatic hero said as the three resuming climbing. Suddenly, he stopped short, causing Tremm to ram head-first into his hindquarters. "Listen! You hear that?"

Leaning towards the building, Beast Boy put one of his ears against the outer wall of the warehouse. "Sounds like some kind of commotion's going on in there," he whispered back.

Finally reaching the top of the pipe, BB reached out and pushed the window up and in, giving them the entrance they needed. At the same time, the sounds from inside the building became clearer. Listening to it for a moment, the realization of what it was stunned all three heroes.

"Is that…laughter?" the shape shifter asked, visibly confused.

Aqualad smirked. "Maybe they're all just inside, watching that little tape of your last stand-up comedy act at the Titan City Kings of Comedy show," he said.

Beast Boy sighed. "I wish," he said, solemnly. "The last time I showed it to them, it put 'em to sleep."

"Ouch," Lad said, wincing. "Harsh criticism."

Quietly, the three heroes crawled their way onto the upper floor of the old warehouse. As they regained their footing, they all were nearly deafened by the echoing laughter that was emanating from the level below. The grated floor beneath their feet obscured too much of the detail for them to make out what was happening below.

"Man, I don't think I've ever heard any of them laugh that hard in my life," BB said.

"Maybe because they're not around you," Aqualad said, grinning. "You're kind of like an anti-fun black hole. I mean, Raven's one, too, but she just looks so much better than you."

Ignoring the snide remarks, Beast Boy's brow furrowed, his eyes hardening. "This is right," he muttered. "That's not regular laughter."

"And how would _you_ know that, Buzz Killington?" Lad asked.

BB looked back at the hero, a half-smirk on his face. "I do have my moments, you know," he said. "But this is different. This is being forced out of them."

Slowly, the three heroes inched over to the ledge of the upper story. As they peered over the side to the floor below, they were met with a scene that none of them ever dreamed they would ever witness…

* * *

Every single Titan, with the exception of Cyborg, were wriggling in ticklish agony as Control Freak's devices sought out and exposed the most sensitive areas of their bodies. Even the macho male Titans were helpless against the assault, as Robin, Speedy, Mas and Menos struggled against their bonds, frantic laughter pouring from their lips. The females, on the other hand, shrieked in hysterics as they were forced to bear what had become a never-ending tickle fight. The sight of their friends in such a helpless situation was almost too much for the three Titans to bear.

"Oh man," Beast Boy said, a shiver running down his spine. "Dude, that is just not cool."

Aqualad shuddered as he watched the Titans scream. "Man, I'm so ticklish, it hurts me just watching this," he said groaning. Tremm nodded in agreement, nearly sickened by what he was seeing.

Lad slowly wrenched his eyes off the scene below, and turned his attention towards BB. "What are we going to do?" he asked.

The green hero kept his eyes on his friends, uncertain of the next course of action. Suddenly, he saw Control Freak sitting on the edge of the stage, eating a sandwich. Mad Mod had returned from his outing, and was now seated in a chair near the containment unit doing a crossword puzzle, a set of noise-cancelling headphones on his ears. Seeing the two villains together made the Titan's blood boil.

"I'll tell you what we're gonna do," he said, his jaw set. "We're going down there and giving Freak-boy and Mad Mud what for!"

As Beast Boy prepared to spring over the side, Aqualad quickly caught his arm, and pulled him back down. "Wait! Look over there!" he said to him, pointing.

BB followed the direction of lad's outstretched finger – and found himself staring at a small army of Mod Mod's Royal Guard robots standing at attention near Mod's position. They were currently offline, but that could change at any moment. "So that's how those two overpowered everyone," he said, grimacing. Things were not going to be easy as he first thought.

"Great," Aqualad said, shaking his head. "You know, if Bumblebee, Robin – heck, _all of us_ – hadn't been arguing with each other, they wouldn't have been caught off-guard like that."

"True, but Mod's 'bots are a lot tougher than you're giving 'em credit for," Beast Boy said. "Even if we had been ready for them, they still could have overpowered us – and then we'd be with them down there."

"Well, they got away with this because they had sheer strength in numbers and the element of surprise," Lad said.

At that, BB smiled. "The element of surprise," he echoed. "Now we have that!"

"True," the aquatic hero surmised, "but we are lacking that whole 'strength in numbers' bit."

"Maybe," the shape shifter said, reaching for his communicator, "but not for long."

Heading back over to the window to get a better signal and escape the sound of pained laughter, the Titan began transmitting:

"Attention, attention. This is a Code 1 priority message. This is Beast Boy of the Teen Titans requesting assistance, I repeat, requesting assistance…

* * *

In a dark alleyway right next to the local movie theater, Beast Boy's voice rang out loud and clear…from under a dumpster.

During the scuffle between the Titans and Mad Mod's minions, Robin had not only lost his utility belt, but had also lost his communicator when he hit the ground. Unfortunately, this lost communicator was the only one currently in the city, as much of the Titan's extended family were halfway across the world. Kid Flash, the only Titans capable of arriving in a timely manner, was too busy being on a date with Jinx at a lovely restaurant in Paris and therefore had switched off the communicator in order to gain some…alone time. It seemed that no one would be in range to help the Titans…

A white gloved hand reached quickly under the forlorn dumpster, and swiftly retrieved the device. Recognizing the communicator, the shadowy figure stood in silence as it listened to the voice on the other end: "- I repeat, requesting assistance. The Titans East and West are being held captive in an abandoned here in Titan City, and my team is far too outnumbered to attempt a rescue mission on our own. I repeat, the Titans East and West have been captured, and our team is not equipped for a rescue mission. Follow the signal for our communicators to locate the warehouse. It's in the northern section of the city. This is a Code 1 priority message. Please, we need your help."

As BB's voice fell silent, the figure pressed the button on top of the communicator. Quickly, a mini-map popped up on the screen similar to the Titan's computer, but with a severely limited range. However, this communicator just happened to be with in range to pick up a weak signal.

'Hmm…if all of the Titans got caught by whomever's behind this, then this is not going to be a walk in the park," the shadow thought. 'There's probably going to be some crazy big battle with plenty of bad guys to plow through just in order to stay alive…'

The figure grinned, exposing his canines. 'Just my kind of fight,' he surmised.

Despite the fact that this individual was not technically a part of the superheroes' extended family, he was consider to be a Titan among those that knew him. This kind of knock-down drag-out was something just too good to pass up.

With the location firmly set in his mind, the figure took off into the shadows, the anticipation of a big fight spurring him along. This was going to be one hell of a night.


	6. The Great Escape

"So, what's the word?" Aqualad asked, as Beast Boy replaced his communicator.

"Well, I got the message out," Beast Boy said, taking a seat down on the cold steel next to his teammates. "A lot of good it did. I got a message from Argent and Pantha, but they're in Africa right now. She said she'll try to get in touch with Wally, but nobody's heard from him since he went on vacation with Jinx. As for everybody else, most of them aren't even in the country, let alone the city." Despite calling out for help, the team seemed to have struck out.

"Well, what do we do now?" Lad asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

BB sighed. "We wait until an opportunity presents itself," he said, defeated. "Not much else we can do right now – unless we want to end up joining them down there."

The minutes ticked by slowly as the three sat in silence, trying everything in their power to tone out the hysterical laughter of their comrades-in-arms. Although they had not fallen into the same trap, the knowledge that they were helpless to stop their torture was torment enough.

As BB's watch watched homed in on the fifteen minute mark, the three were snapped to attention by a harsh whistling sound like that of an old train and an equally harsh voice shouting, "BREAK TIME!"

Realizing that an opportunity might just be around the corner, the three heroes nodded in agreement, and scooted back over to the ledge see what was going on.

* * *

"Okay, how much fun was that?" Control Freak beamed, clapping his hands festively. However, the Titans were far too out of breath to offer any sarcastic comments. The villain took the silence with a look of surprise. "What's this?" he laughed. "Not a single outburst? Don't tell you're all broken already! That would just about crush my little heart!"

As the fat man stood on stage feeling superior, Raven's tear-stained eyes flamed with fury. 'That fat son of a…I swear, when I get out of this contraption the first thing I'm going to do is force-feed that bloated freak through a tuba!' she thought, her blood boiling. It hadn't been enough that Control Freak had gotten the upper hand and tickle tortured her first time; no, he had to go and do it again. No man should have ever tried to tickle Raven into submission and get away with it, but he did. However, there was no way in hell he was going to get away with it twice. But what could she do about it? As long as she remained strapped in this chair, she was helpless to his every whim. Contemplating her situation, Raven let her eyes fall into the metallic shackles that led her ankles firmly in place. Looking at it, she could see the reflection of a small piece of mirrored glass on the floor, no doubt a leftover from one of the many evil schemes that had been hatched in this building. As she stared, she thought she could make out something in the double reflection, something sitting near her legs on the underside of the chair. What was that, some sort of power device? Or was it…

Her eyes widened in surprise. "No way…" she whispered.

Raven realized that she was looking at the fail-safe override for her chair! If she could reach it, it would be her ticket to sweet revenge against Control Freak. But how? Testing her restraints, the girl quickly realized that the chair was not going to move forward. Try as she might, the hinge refused to budge. Furiously, Raven threw herself back against the chair. It seemed that, like Tantalus, Raven's salvation existed just outside her reach…

Suddenly, the girl heard a small clicking sound, and felt her body straight out a little bit. Inspiration flashed in her mind as she realized a better method. 'The chair would ratchet forward,' she thought, 'but it will go back. Let's find out how far."

Drawing on all of her physical strength, Raven began bending her body backwards towards the override. However, this was not as simple as one might have assumed. The Titan was not quite as flexible as a circus performer, and it didn't take too long for her body to remind her of that. 'Uhhg…God, this hurts,' she thought to herself as she reached a nearly 90 degree angle. 'I don't even think Starfire's this limber.'

Pain lanced up the girl's spine as she continued to fold herself over, but she couldn't have cared less. That physical stimulus was one she could handle day in and day out, like she had be trained to do. Tickling, on the other hand, had not been on her list of stimuli worth defending against. Grunting, she made a mental note to add that one to the list.

As Control Freak polished off his sandwich, he was well unaware of Raven's intentions, but things were not going swimmingly for the Titan. The pain, coupled with the blood rush to the head, her making her feel light-headed as she inched closer to her goal. Her body was a mess, as her ankles threatened to separate from her body and her backbone seemed only moments away from snapping in half. With one final push, Raven felt as her middle finger brushed against the outside of the override control. 'Almost…here…' she thought…

* * *

"Hey!" a voice rung out from across the building, nearly scaring the priestess half to death. The next thing she knew, she was letting out a yelp as the chair flipped back to its' original position with so much force it nearly gave her whiplash.

'NO!' she thought, the voice in her head practically screaming. 'I was so close!'

Glaring back up at the stage, she clenched her teeth in rage as Control Freak and Mad Mod looked down at her, shaking their heads disapprovingly.

"Tsk-tsk-tsk," the rotund villain said, smirking. "Rae-Rae, you've been a very bad girl…although I've got to admit – seeing you bent over backwards like that sure did get the old juices flowing!"

"Go to Hell, you fat freak," the girl said, her eyes burning.

Freak grinned evilly, and raised the remote over his head again, signaling an end to this little break. "You first, sweetheart," he said, pressing the button.

* * *

As laughter once again filled the warehouse, Beast Boy reflected on what he had just seen. "Aqualad," he said, quietly, "I just got an idea."

"Well, as long as it doesn't require us to dress in drag and do the hula, I'll bite," the hero responded.

BB smirked at that remark, picturing how the pretty boy Titan would look in a strapless dress and heels. Quickly, he shook the image form his head. Now was the time to be serious. "I need you guys to help me create a diversion," he began, laying out his plan. "I'm gonna head down to the floor near Raven's position. Once there, I'm gonna give you a signal. When I do, you throw the main breaker in the circuit box – it's right over there, by the stairs. Once that's done, you and Tremm find a place to hide up here and wait for me to get back. Got it?"

"Sure, but how will I know when you're giving me a sign?" Aqualad asked, concerned.

BB smiled. "Trust me, you know it when you see it," he quipped.

With the plan set in place, the three heroes headed in separate directions.

* * *

As Control Freak and Mad Mod studied the levels of energy they were collected from each device for their little experiment, the Titans screamed as their already sensitized bodies were ravenged all over again by Freak's diabolical instruments. Cyborg, mean while, was preoccupied with finding a flaw in his chair that he could utilize to escape. Because of all of this, not one of them noticed the little green rat that crawled its' way down one of the aging support beams. Nor did they notice when it toddled over to Raven's chair and flopped itself down on the ground, rolling around on the dusty floor.

Aqualad, on the other hand, did. He smiled as he watched the rat roll on the ground at Raven's feet. "That's a sign if I saw one," he said, reaching for the main breaker.

* * *

Control Freak's moment in the spotlight was cut a little sooner than he expected when it went out – along with the rest of the power in the building.

"What the…?" he stammered, stumbling around in the darkness. "Man, nothing ever works in this place. Mad Mod, however, could feel fear nipping at his heels.

"Control Freak! Get the power back on!" he shouted, his voice cracking. "Do it quickly, before they escape!"

The British villain was surprised to hear his companion laugh. "No sweat, Mod," Freak said. "The control panel has a built-in power unit. I installed it just for situations like this. The mechanical arms might shut down, but the chairs remain in their upright and _fully _locked position. They ain't going anywhere."

Hearing this, Mod allowed himself a little smile. "I must admit, you're much craftier at being a villain than I originally thought," he said.

Mod's response, however, was answered by the sound of metal banging around and the "OOFF!" of a fat guy hitting the ground, hard. "Of course, if I was any craftier, I would have thought to bring night-vision goggles," Control Freak growled as he staggered back to his feet.

Mod chuckled. "Allow me to remedy the situation," he said as he clapped his hands twice. Within a moment, the piercing red eyes of a Royal Guard robot shone in the darkness. "Go check the circuit breaker," the old man commanded. "This place isn't designed to run this late into the night."

As the machine headed to do its' master's bidding, the Titans found themselves with another small reprieve from the torment, talking another moment to collect their sense and prepare for what was next. But as Raven sat in the darkness, she was glad that none of them could see the tears of frustration that were running down her face.

'I was so close!' she thought, mentally kicking herself. 'I could touch it, and that bloated freak jerked me back from it. Now the damn thing's in full lockdown, and I can't move my chair to reach it. It's only a matter of time before that robot restores power to the building, and everything will start up again…'

Raven's internal beatdown session was interrupted by a voice emerging from the darkness. "Hmm…and here I thought you said that you weren't ticklish," it said, a 'told-you-so' tone in its' voice.

Raven's eyes widened as she recognized the voice. "Beast Boy?" she asked in a hushed whisper. "Is that you?"

Although the girl couldn't see the Titan, she felt a hand being placed on her right shoulder. "Yeah, it's me," she heard BB said.

Raven's heart fluttered for a slight moment. She could not remember a time when she was actually happy to hear that annoying grass stain's voice. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Breaking you out," the green hero stated as he felt underneath her seat for the override control.

"Wait…" the girl said, conflicted. As much as she wanted to be free from the mind-numbing sensations, she had her doubts as to her physical prowess in a fight that was sure to come. "Maybe you try freeing Starfire or Cyborg. They'd…they'd be better in a fight right now than me." Raven's face burned with embarrassment, and she was glad the darkness prevented Beast Boy from seeing that.

"No way," came the boy's reply. "Starfire's probably too weak from fighting against her restraints, and if Cyborg can't break his, there's no way I'm going to. Besides, your chair is the only one I think I know how to unlock."

That final remark left the girl in a state of confusion. "H-how do you know ere the fail safe switch is?" she asked.

BB paused for a moment, and swallowed hard. He knew very well that providing an answer to that question would lead to bad things in the future. However, Raven deserved to know, and it would kill him if he kept that from her…even though she would probably kill him for what he was about to say. "I…uh…saw you when you were reaching for it," he finally said, wincing at the thought of what lied ahead.

Raven's confusion was quickly replaced by a sea of fury. Every muscle tightened up in her body, and her face twisted horribly in anger. If Beast Boy could have seen it, he most likely would have gone screaming into the night. "You WHAT?" she hissed, her voice sharp as a dagger. "Just exactly how long have you been here?"

"Uh, five…ten…maybe fifteen minutes?" the Titan said, sheepishly. "Quite possibly twenty?"

There was a moment of silence between the two, but BB could practically feel the rage flowing from Raven's body as she trembled beneath his fingers. He wasn't certain, but he surmised that the look she was giving him could have dropped him dead on the ground. Finally, a reply came from the darkness, the tone as deep as Trigon himself: "If I were you, Beast Boy…I would just leave me in this chair…because if you let me out of it, I swear I'll make your life a living hell."

Beast Boy nearly cried. So much for mending the rift between the two Titans. Now Raven was even angrier with him. Swallowing hard, he finally located the override control. "I guess Ill just have to take my chances," he said, flipping the switch.

Raven's body flowed with eternal relief as the shackles sprang loose. Sitting up, she located her boots and slid them back into her feet. Taking a deep breath, she could feel the ethereal energy surge within her being once again. 'Time for payback', she thought.

"So Rae, are you feeling back your old sel-AAACK!" BB's words were cut off as the Azorethian's right arm snaked out, her hand latching itself right around his throat. 'I'll take that as a 'yes'," he said, croaking like a bullfrog.

From the darkness of the room, two red eyes shone. But this was not one of Mod's toys. "You sat up there and just watched as Control Freak tormented us for twenty minutes?!" Raven growled, her rage boiling over.

"Ah, ah, I'm sensing…a little…hostility here," the hero managed to choke out from underneath the girl's fingers.

"Really?" she said, sarcastically, her red eyes narrowing. "How ever did you guess?"

Summoning all of his strength, Beast Boy managed to pry the priestess's fingers from off his throat. Free to breathe again, he quickly recomposed himself. "Look, we don't have time for this right now,' he said, a serious tone in his voice. "If you wanna hate me, hate me. The truth of the matter is that the other Titans are still in lockdown, and the power's gonna be up any moment now. So, unless you want to have another walk down Giggly Schoolgirl Lane, I suggest we get upstairs_ now_."

As the Titan's words resonated in Raven's mind, her red eyes faded back into the darkness. "Fine", she said, coldly. "But don't think this is over. Now, give me your hand."

Offering it up, Beast Boy's eyes went wild with pain as the girl practically crushed it in her grip. The pain would continue as the Girl from Azareth levitated the two of them to the upper floor.


	7. Hero Revealed

KKWUNG! Control Freak squinted his eyes as the fluorescent lights flickered back to life. "Ah, music to my ears," he said to himself. Turning his attention back to the Titans, he grinned. "Sorry for that little SNAFU," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "These things happen from time to time. Now, what say we get back to business?"

Raising the remote back up over his head for the third time, he delighted in seeing the anxiety in each of the Titans' eyes. However, as his thumb hovered over the button, he scanned to the end of the row – and found himself looking at Raven's now-empty chair.

"Wha-! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, where'd she go?!" he shouted, completely stunned by the girl's vanishing act. "She just pulled a freakin' Houdini on us!"

While the fat man was busy freaking out, Mad Mod simply frowned. "It seems that we're not alone," he surmised. Turning to his army of robots, he once again clapped his hand twice in succession. This time, however, all of his minions – twenty strong – came to life, their red eyes flaming.

"Search the upper floor," the British gentleman said, matter-of-factly. "When you locate out missing Titan and our unwelcome guests, subdue them and bring them back down here for a little…entertainment."

Without so much as a word, the mechanical soldiers began their march.

* * *

"Oh man," Aqualad said as the Royal Guard slowly ascended the staircase. "They're on to us!"

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Beast Boy said, peering out from around the edge of a rusted metal crate. "Control Freak might be playing with a short deck, but even he wasn't going to overlook the sudden disappearance of one of his captives. Still, at least it's four of us now."

"Yeah, against twenty or so of them," Lad said, grimacing. "Four-to-one odds doesn't exactly give me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside."

"It is what it is," BB said. Looking over at Raven, he gave a half-smile. "You think you can handle a few of these guys coming at ya?" he asked.

Raven responded with an icy glare that sent chills up the Titan's spine. "Right now, I've got a boatload of pain just waiting to be unloaded on the next sorry individual, and since I can't take it out on you as of the moment, these guys will have to do," she said, coldly.

"That's…uh…good to know there, Raven," Aqualad said, managing a weak smile.  
"Don't you talk to me either, right now," the girl said, anger flaring in her eyes. "I'm not exactly ecstatic about you two sitting on your duffs for all that time as well."

Aqualad and Tremm gave each other nervous looks. "Hey, BB," the aquatic hero whispered. "I think I've got an idea of my own."

"Really?" the shape shifter asked. "What is it?"

Lad leaned in until he was face-to-face with the fellow Titan. "I think that as soon as we get the other guys freed and out of the building, Raven's probably gonna tell everyone what happened, and I'm not quite sure that they'll respond in kind. So my suggestion: When that all goes down, the three of us oughta run like hell."

BB slowly turned his head, glancing at the menacing frown on Raven's face. A moment later, he turned back to face Aqualad. "I think we should seriously consider that as an option," he responded, swallowing hard.

The two Titans were snapped back to attention as the first footstep of the mechanized soldiers vibrated the grating beneath them.

"Okay, guys," Beast Boy said, taking a deep breath. "Let's show these brainless metalheads just what happens when they mess with the best. Titans, GO!"

* * *

The sound of metal banging, loud footsteps, and small explosion caught the attention of everyone on the lower floor. The two villains quickly realized that this was definitely not part of the plan.

"Aww, I don't believe this!" Control Freak said, jumping up and down in frustration. "No, no, no, no, NO! It's just not fair!" With each consecutive bounce, the wooden stage creaked beneath his feet, threatening to collapse under the fat man's weight.

"Come on, relax, my boy," Mad Mod cooed, calmly. "Regardless of what that little green snot bubble has brought to the table, the sheer fact remains that it's still four against twenty up there."

Suddenly, the broken body of a Royal Guard soldier crash-landed at the feet of the two villains, its' exposed wiring shorting out under the spotlight.

"Well," the British man said, feeling his cheeks reddening. "Four against nineteen, anyway."

Meanwhile, Robin was busy shaking off the exhaustion that had begun sinking into his being. Since Raven's mysterious disappearance, Control Freak hadn't bothered to re-activate the torture devices. Twisting his head to the right, he watched as Starfire breathed heavily, her chest heaving up and down in rapid succession. Seeing her in such a position brought a wave of fury to the Boy Wonder's mind. Freak and Mod would pay for their transgressions; there was no doubt about that. But it was the his friend's well-being that mattered more to him now

"Star, are you alright?" he asked, longing to hold her in his arms and say that softly into her ears.

Despite her predicament, the Tamaranean offered a tight smile. "Robin…" she stammered between breaths, "I…do not think…that I…want to be….tickled again…for quite some time…"

The boy smiled. "I think all of us can share that feeling," he said. "Now, can you use your energy blasts?"

"No," The Tamaranean said, straining against her bonds. "The shackles holding my hands in place are solid. I tried blasting out of them, but the heat from my energy nearly burnt my hands. As for the shield over my eyes, I dare not try. I fear that such a blast reflected back could very well leave me blinded."

"Great," Robin said, irritation noticeable in his voice. "I guess we're all just sitting ducks as of right now."

With no alternatives, the captive Titans could only listen as the battle raged on above their heads.

* * *

"Azareth, Metrion, ZINTHOS!" Raven chanted as she hurled a metal crate at a group of charging robots. The crate hit with a solid THUD, scattering the enemies like bowling pins.

"Nice strike, Rae!" Aqualad said, ducking under a robotic fist and delivering one of his own.

So far, the ragtag group of Titans had held their own against the formidable Royal Guard. However, Beast Boy wasn't enjoying the success of his teammates, as he quickly found himself outnumbered five to one. Dodging one attack, the shape shifter would get caught with another attack. Quickly, he transformed into a spider monkey, and slid his way out of the robots' clutches.

"RAE!" he shouted as he returned to his normal form on the run with the robots in tow. "I could use a little help here!"

Turn towards her fellow Titan, Raven paused for a moment, and watched as Beast Boy ran around in circles, trying to shake the Royal Guard off his tail. It was practically a scene right out of the Keystone Kops. Shaking her head, she allowed herself a small smile. Although BB's verbal humor wouldn't make her bat an eyelash, his physical humor had some potential. Perhaps he should have signed up to participate in that national comedy show after all…

"RAE! Sometime today would be nice!" the green hero said, finding himself backed into a corner as the 'bots advanced on him.

"I hope you know how lucky you are that I'm willing to help you despite everything that's happened," the girl said, levitating into the air. "Azareth, Metrion -!"

Raven let out a small gasp as he felt two cold arms wrap around her chest, pinning her arms to her side. In the confusion, a Royal Guard had snuck up behind her, and she was now locked in its' iron grip.

As Rae struggled and kicked in a vain attempt to break the robot's hold, Beast Boy caught sight of her. "Yo, Aqualad!" he yelled, barely sidestepping a punch to the face. "Raven's in trouble!"

"I'd love to help, but Tremm and I are a little busy right now!" Lad shouted as he and the Fishboy worked tandem on a small group of minions.

BB frowned. He realized that he would have to save the girl on his own. "Don't worry, Raven!" he shouted. "I'm coming!" The next thing the Titans knew, he was face-down on the floor, his jaw throbbing. A lucky cross had clipped him on the chin. Slowly, he stumbled back up to his feet. "We're on our way!" he said, still a little woozy. BAM! Another shot, another trip to the floor. This time, the trip back up was a little slower than the first. "Might take a little longer than I expected!" he slurred. On this round, however, he successfully dodged the third punch, and finally delivered one of his own.

With the other Titans locked in combat with the remaining robots, Raven found herself alone as she watched Mad Mod slowly ascended the stairs, a toothy grin on his face.

"My, my, my, what do we have here?" he said, a mocking tone in his voice. "You know, Raven, in high society, it is considered disgraceful to leave someone else's party with bothering to say good-bye."

Raven narrowed her eyes, defiance abound. "Really?" she said, her voice emotionless. "Then I apologize. Here – let me give you your good-bye…Azareth, Metrion, Zinth-AHHH!" the Titan let out a cry of pain as the robot tightened its' grip around her body. Her ribs felt close to the breaking point, and her lungs felt like a vise grip had been placed around them.

Mod shook his head, sighing. "I'm quite certain you've probably heard this before," he said, chuckling, "but you should definitely consider looking into some sorter spell words." Walking closer, the British gentleman stood eye to eye with the young Titan. "Now my dear, I'll tell you want we are going to do now. We are going to go back downstairs, put you back in that comfy little chair that Control Freak put all his blood, sweat, and scientific instability into, slip those boots back off your oh-so-ticklish feet, and send you into another round of hysterical laughter…just for shits and giggles." He paused, patting the girl on the cheek. "But don't worry, Raven – as soon as my robots get finished dealing with your little friends, they'll get to join us in all the festivities, and you wouldn't be able to do a thing about it, child."

The girl's mind went wild with fear and fury. She couldn't go back. Not after she'd gotten this far. She couldn't stand the thought of even one more feather dragging slowly down her arches. "NO!" she screamed, thrashing left and right like a fish on a line. "I WON"T LET YOU DO THIS! LET ME GO!"

Mad Mod turned, and started for the staircase, the restrained Raven in tow. So much for the Titans' little uprising. No one was coming to save them…

* * *

"HEY!" a voice emanated from the darkness behind Mod's back. The villain quickly spun around, ready to deal with whatever child had broken free of his minions – and gasped in shock as he witnessed a figure perched in the same window BB and the others had used to gain entrance into the building. But, this was no Titan the old man had ever seen.

Squatted down on the windowsill, the small, stout being glared back at Mod, its' piercing white eyes shining in the night. The gentleman could have sworn that he was staring at a demon that had been sent from Hell for a purpose, but whatever purpose that was escaped his mind. The startling image was soon accompanied by a voice unlike any he had heard before.

"I thought that a smart guy like you would figured out by now that she doesn't like to be touched like that," the voice said, deep and gruff in tone, with a slight hint of feral nature buried deep within.

Mod and his minion stood still as the figure dropped from the sill, practically vanishing into the darkness. However, the voice still remained. "You know, for all of your hoity-toity British 'holier than thou' attitude, you have absolutely no idea on how to treat a lady."

As the voice dwindled down, the figure stepped into the moonlit gap between the darkness and the villain. Mod's eyes nearly fell from his head, as he made out the face of a true demon: its' canines glistening in the eerie light, a brow furrowed over flame-filled eyes, and a massive head halfway encircled by tendrils. But this was no demon; this was the face of a guardian.

The being cracked the knuckles on its' massive hands, and gave the villain a smile that chilled him to the very bone. "If you can't learn to be a real gentleman, then I guess I'll just have to beat it into you," it said.

The next thing Mad Mod saw was a white spiked fist coming straight for his face.


	8. Gun Fight at the OhNo Corral

Beast Boy hit the floor again for the…well, even he had lost count by this time. Fisticuffs had never quite been Beast Boy's strong suit. Safe to say, he was less skilled at it than he was with computers. "Man, so much for 'float like a butterfly, sting like a bee'," he said, holding his head. The Titan hadn't done too much floating, but his body sure felt stung. As he shook the cobwebs from his head, he heard a scream ring out over the building. "That sounded like Raven!" he said, glancing around. Whatever had happened seemed to have subsided, as he couldn't see anything near the stairway. His heart sank, fearing that his friend had been dragged back down below to be tortured again. Some hero he was.

"Yo, BB!" Aqualad's voice snapped the boy back to attention as he saw the aquatic hero backpedalling from a dangerous robotic fist. "You got any ideas on how to save our skins?"

Looking around, Beast Boy realized that, with Raven out of the scenario, it was still seven to three, and there was nowhere else to run as the Titans stood their ground. The Royal Guard robots slowly marched forward, eyes on the prize. As they did so, a loud creaking sound emanated from the section of floor grating. Seeing it slowly sag due to the weight of the metallic minions, a flash of inspiration ran through Beast Boy's mind.

"Guys, get ready," he said, a stern look overtaking his face.

"For what?" Aqualad asked in confusion.

"We're going down!" BB shouted.

Before Lad could compose another question, he and Tremm were stunned by the sight of Beast Boy's physique transforming into an elephant. They were equally stunned as the grating beneath them gave way, sending both robot and Titan head straight for the floor below.

Beast Boy was the first to hit the stage. Then came Aqualad, landing squarely on top of him, followed by Tremm on top of him. The Royal Guard, on the other hand, smashed into pieces as they landed around the Titan sandwich.

"Ohh…I'm sure glad you came up with that idea," Lad groaned, wondering if his spine was still in his body, let alone in its' regular place. "We could have gotten seriously hurt up there."

BB groaned as well. Aqualad and Tremm weren't exactly lightweights. "Got to admit, that was probably not one of my best ideas," he said.

"Yeah, who would have thought that a fall capable of destroying a bunch of robots might actually kill us?" Aqualad grimaced. "Good thing I had this nice airbag here to break my fall…oh, wait…I meant AIRHEAD!"

As the three heroes painfully got to their feet, they soon found themselves staring down something they actually hadn't expected to see that night – the barrel of a .45!

"Hey! What gives?" Beast Boy asked in shock as Control Freak held them all at gunpoint. "Since when did you start packin' heat?"

"Since I realized that the villain's best 'ace in the hole' should be one that puts holes into others," the fat man said. "Turns out, this might have been the best investment I've ever made."

Waving the gun, Freak herded the three heroes over to the side of the containment unit. The Cheshire grin returned to his face once again, as so did his confidence. "Now, we got us a game," he said, laughing.

Glancing around, BB noticed to his surprise that Raven's chair was still empty. 'I thought I heard her scream,' he thought, his brow furrowing. 'If she's not down here, then where is she? More importantly, what happened to her?'

Control Freak walked over to the stairway, making sure to keep his gun trained on the three amigos, and banged loudly on the metal railing. "Hey Mod! Quit playing with yourself and get back on down here with Miss Raven!" he shouted, impatiently. "I'm starting to miss that cute little laugh of hers!"

Silence met Freak's response. Irritated, he banged on the railing again, this time even harder. "Hey! You had better not be experimenting with her up there all by yourself!" he shouted even louder. "You promised this was going to be a joint effort!"

Once again, silence. Now the rotund villain was furious. "Mod, you two-timing limey, tea-sipping arrogant bastard! Get your ass down here RIGHT NOW!"

As if on cue, the British villain indeed came down – sailing up and over the rail before crumpling into an unconscious heap upon impacting the stage!

"Dude, that's not a good way to come down," Beast Boy said, reflecting on his experience a mere minute and a half before.

"I'm pretty sure that's not the way he wanted to come down," Aqualad quipped, shaking his head.

Suddenly, there was a surge of energy near the three Titans, and they watched as Raven descended from the upper story and touched down next to them. Seeing his friend in good shape, BB was ecstatic. "Way to go, Rae!" he said, smiling. "You know, I heard you scream, and I thought they had you good. I'm definitely glad I was wrong."

To his surprise, the girl slowly shook her head. "I didn't scream," she said, quietly, "and I didn't do that."

"Then…who?" Aqualad said, utterly confused.

The question was answered by an enormous THUD as the mysterious figure who had rescued Raven landed after leaping from the ledge above. To the frustration of Titans in front of the stage, the control panel blocked the view of the person who had descended from the darkness. The other Titans, however, finally got a good look at their tag team partner. Only BB and Raven recognized who had intercepted the priority message, but they could only stare in awe.

"I…don't believe it," Raven stammered, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her. Beast Boy, on the other hand, simply smiled. "Now that's a face I could never forget," he said, almost sensing the tide of the battle turning. To paraphrase Control Freak from earlier, now they _really_ had them a game.

* * *

Cracking the vertebrae in his neck, Knuckles the Echidna felt pretty damn good. That Royal Guard robot had spilt open from the impact of his fist like a baked potato. Mod, on the other hand, had screamed like a little girl just before he got floored. Old man didn't even stand a chance against a Mobian guardian just entering his prime. The only bad side to the situation was that the rest of the 'bots had been busted up when Beast Boy took out that section of grating. Now, the hot-tempered hero was all revved up with no one to play with. Looking past the slack-jawed Control Freak, he eyed Beast Boy and Raven near the containment unit. "Hey, Wrecking Ball," he said, jokingly. "You couldn't have left a couple of those guys for me?"

The green hero smirked. "If knew you were coming, I'd have set you a plate," he said, laughing.

"Wait a minute…What are you doing here in Titan City?" Raven asked, well-aware that the Mobian seemed far off-course from his home.

Knuckles chuckled. "I'm here for the comedy show," he said. "Decided it was about time to take a day off from fighting the fat boy and give the people of this fair city something to laugh about." Letting his eyes trail over to Control Freak, he gave a little shrug of his shoulders. "Of course, now here I am in a different city on a different planet, fighting _another_ fat boy. What a wonderful change of pace."

"Please, Knuckles," Raven said, her eyes flaring with energy. "I know you need a little practice before the show, but I don't think any of us are in the mood to laugh anymore tonight."

"Laugh…anymore?" the echidna echoed, a confused look on his face. "Well, it's certainly not because of Tubby Soft-Squeeze's ridiculous outfit here, so…" he paused as he realized what had occurred. Listening to Beast Boy's message, he could have sworn he heard laughter in the background. It seemed that Control Freak was relying on the Poor Boy Villain's method of torture. Despite the fact that he knew how effective that particular brand of torment was…well, not himself personally, since he was immune, he had never expected it to even be considered as a method of breaking the Titans. A grin formed on his lips, and he looked long and hard at Control Freak, who seemed unsure as to why he was staring at one of the most powerful Freedom Fighters ever to grace the planet Mobius.

"You're a trip, you know that?" the Guardian said, shaking his head. "For all your plotting and scheming and so-called threatening presence, you just can't seem to get anyone to take you seriously, can you? I mean, what kind of evil mastermind even contemplates using tickling to force their captives to their will? Granted, it can be more effective than one might think, but it certainly ain't winning you any Brownie points among your peers."

Rotating his shoulders, the echidna's smile tightened. "But I'm not a fan of anyone who torments others for personal gain or pleasure, regardless of how or what they use," he said, his voice deepening to a growl. "You want to play in the big leagues? You need to attract some dangerous adversaries, people who can and will hold nothing back when it's time to throw down. And you know something, CF? You've got my attention."

Cracking his knuckles, the Guardian bared his teeth, a feral growl projecting from his mouth. "You wanna be big time? You'll have to go through me," he finished.

Control Freak's face was a mask of horror – for a few moments, at least. Then, a wicked smile cross his face. "You know something?" he said, flexing his open hand. "It's quite an honor to meet such a dangerous individual such as yourself. I mean, I've heard so many things about you. But there is something I've always been a bit curious about…"

The echidna tensed up. The tone of Freak's voice was off. Something just wasn't right about this…

"Tell me something, Knux," the fat man said. "Are you…bulletproof?"

Suddenly, Freak's hand dove back into his jacket. A moment later, the glint of metal emerged from beneath the clothing. The villain was packing more than just one punch line tonight!

"Oh shit…" the Guardian's feet were moving before his words even hit the breeze.

"HIT THE DECK!" Beast Boy hollered as Control Freak opened up with double-fisted fury, raining bullets in the direction of the echidna as well as them. Raven threw up a small force field in the nick of time, allowing the four Titans to take refuge behind the containment unit. Knuckles, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky as he found himself on the open stage, dodging bullets left and right.

"Goddamn!" he shouted as a projectile whizzed right by his face. "It's like a freakin' shooting gallery!" Glancing to his left, the Mobian noticed the control box anchored to the stage floor. With little thought, he hurled himself over the top of the panel, and crouched low on the other side. "Great, just great," he grumbled to himself as bullets pinged off the panel. "Pinned down under fire by some crazy schmuck with two guns who thinks he's Chow Yun-Fat."

Meanwhile, the captive heroes had been shocked by the sound of gunfire breaking out near the back of the stage, and now found themselves in a state of confusion as they witnessed the Mobian guardian before them, dodging bullets.

"Knuckles?" Robin said, startled by the sudden appearance of the echidna.

The Guardian turned his head, surveying the devices each of the Titans had been locked into. "There you guys are!" he said, jokingly. "What the hell you doing lying down on the job?" He dropped lower as a bullet soared over the top of his hiding place. "There are more comfortable ways to get a decent tan in this day and age, you guy know that, right?" he added.

The Boy Wonder smirked. "This isn't exactly our idea of a vacation," he said.

"Man, what are you doing here?" Cyborg asked, ducking down the best he could as bullets flew all over his head.

"I'm looking for a date to the prom, you interested?" the echidna quipped, sarcastically. "What the hell do you think I'm doing here?"

"Knux, that box you're hiding in front of is the control panel for these things," Robin said, motioning with his head. "If you can reach the power switch, it'll set us free!"

The Mobian looked at the Titan, then back up at the box. "Well, I was hoping not to get shot today, but what the hell," he said.

"One more thing," Robin added with a weak smile, as the echidna got ready to spring into action. "Try to press the right button."

"Roger Wilcox," the Guardian said with a laugh.

Standing up quickly, Knuckles reached over the top of the panel. However, Control Freak had been waiting for that moment, and unloaded on him. The echidna dodged a few shots, but simply couldn't get close enough to the switches from his position, Suddenly, bullet ricocheted near his face, and he dropped back down quickly, holding the side of his head.

"Goddamn son of a…Bastard nearly shot my dreads off!" he growled, pulling his hand away and looking at it. No blood. Good sign. Looking back at Robin, he shook his head. "Not gonna get it that way," he told the Titan. "I need some sort of diversion to keep Fat Boy at bay." Thinking for a second, the Mobian scooted over to the edge of the box. Peering over the side, he spotted BB and Raven huddled down behind the containment unit.

"Hey, Rae!" he shouted, getting the girl's attention. "I could use a little distraction right about now!" Unfortunately, Knuckles' yelling caught the attention of Control Freak as well, who aimed for the Mobian's exposed face. "I don't believe you!" he said, firing his weapon as Knuckles retreated back behind the panel. "Everybody knows that you're not supposed to call out for a distraction so the bad guys can hear you! What are you, stupid?"

Chortling, the fat villain turned his attention back on the Titans behind the unit – only to see a giant steel beam heading straight for him! "Ooo…that looks heavy…" he muttered.

BAM! The steel girder impacted Freak hard, sending his guns flying from his hands as the energy from Raven's spell carried him across the stage and over to where Mad Mod laid motionless. As he hit the ground, the girder remained on top of him, effectively pinning him in place. Watching the event unfold, Knuckles laughed as Freak tried without success to move the metal beam. "Thanks, Rae!" he said. "Looks like I get to buy you dinner!"

"Be careful," the Titan said, reappearing from behind the unit, a small smile on her face. "I just might hold you to that."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," the echidna said. Reaching back over the control panel, he located the kill switch. "Let's close up shop for the night-!"

BZZZZ! Knuckles shot back nearly off the stage as an electrical shockwave ran through his body, Regain his composure, he shook his right hand, which had cramped up from the blast. "Mmmmm…Margret Thatcher!" he shouted, doing what he could to curb his language around the Titans. "Goddamn booby-traps!"

Bumblebee smirked at the Mobian. "Did that hurt?" she asked.

The echidna glared at her, irritation on his face. "No, I just like flexing my hand and shouting out names of random members of the British Parliament because it's a new FAD!" he shouted, angrily.

As the echidna growled in pain, Control Freak quickly reached into the upper pocket of his jacket. Slowly, retrieved a small silver remote.

"You want a challenge, Red Dread?" he muttered, laughing to himself. "I'll give you a challenge."

With that, the fat villain pressed the button.

* * *

"Raven, see if you can rip this goddamn thing out and –!" Knuckles stopped in mid-sentence as his ears picked up the sound of a roll-up door sliding open. Looking across the stage towards the back of the building, he saw as a sea of red lights flood in from the darkness. More Royal Guard robots. A _lot_ more of them. "I knew that this was just way too easy," he muttered as the mechanized army poured into the warehouse.

"Knuckles, see if you can free the other Titans!" Beast Boy shouted. "We'll deal with these guys!"

"You sure that's such a wise idea?" the echidna shouted back.

"No, but if we fail, you're our backup," BB said, before adding jokingly, "No pressure."

As the Titans rushed head long to meet the opposition, the Mobian looked for anything he could use to gain the advantage. Glancing up at the containment unit, he raised an eyebrow. It seemed that Control Freak's method of gathering energy from the Titans had actually worked pretty well, as the unit showed a 54% capacity. If he could rupture the tank, the resulting explosion would be enough to fry any and all electrical components in the building. But the reinforced titanium alloy was too thick for even him to punch through. What to do…

Suddenly, an idea came to mind. Looking back at the Titans, he smiled. "Hey, Cyborg," he said. "I might not quite be Sonic, but do you still got the BOOM?"

The mechanical man smiled back. "I've got a whole lotta BOOM, and I'm just itching to use it," he said.

"Good," the echidna said. "I'm gonna see if I can get that strap holding your arms down off of ya. If I can, I want you to blow that containment unit over there sky high. The energy from it should be enough to short out the robots and fry the electronics in your chairs."

"But what about Cyborg?" Bumblebee asked, concerned.

"My cybernetics have EMP shielding," Cy said, matter-of-factly. "I'll be just fine."

Wasting little time, Knuckles leapt onto Cyborg's chair. Planting his feet on either side of the Titan, he wrapped his massive hands around the strap. Gritting his teeth, he began pulling up in the metal.

"You've got to be kidding, right?" Bee asked, an incredulous look on her face. "If Cyborg couldn't break those straps, what chance do you have, Munchkin?"

"It's not about breaking the strap," the Mobian grunted, the veins in his arms bulging. "It's about breaking what's holding it in place."

True to the echidna's reasoning, the rivets that held the bracket in place were slowly being pulled out of the table. With one more massive thug, the rivets pulled free from the table, flinging both Knuckles and the strap to the floor. "There you go," he said, shaking his head. "All yours."

Cyborg quickly propped himself up, and aimed his built-in cannon at the containment unit. "Get ready for the BOOM!" he said, grinned.

Nothing happened.

"Just they don't make BOOM's like they used to," the Guardian said, looking up at the Titan's outstretched cannon. The light flickered from the power cell as Cyborg re-formed his hand.

"I – I don't know what happened," he said, looking at his hand. "Everything should have been fine." Checking a hunch, Cyborg accessed his control unit – and made an unsettling discovery. "Control Freak must have uploaded some sort of algorithm into my system," he said, angrily. "My weapons system won't come back online for another seven hours!"

"Well, I presume waiting is out of the question," Knuckles said, sighing. Two plans down, and nothing on the back burner. What a night.

* * *

As the Titans struck out oh-for-two, BB and the other Titans found themselves on the wrong end of a massive beatdown. Mod's backup army was at least double the original one, and seemed to be better suited to deal with the teenaged heroes. Ducking under another shot, Beast Boy grimaced. "And here I thought the first group was tough," he said.

Suddenly, he felt his shoulders bump into Aqualad's body. The four teens had been backed into a corner. Try as she might, Raven's mind was so exhausted from resisting the previous sensations as well as the fight to offer up any controlled spell casting, and her body was in no condition to put up a physical fight. With no way out, she could only watch as the other put up a token defense as the army slowly closed in.

* * *

Control Freak smiled as the robotic army finally subdued the remaining Titans. Things were finally looking up for him. Speaking of up…

"Hey! Furhats!" he shouted, motioning to two of the Royal Guard Robots. "Get this thing off of me!"

A sigh on relief came to his face as the two slowly moved towards him. Looks like Mad Mod had programmed this lot to respond to both their commands. "Thank a lot, Bunkie," he said cheerfully, knocking on the British villain's still-sleeping head, and waited for the machines to come and do their work.

* * *

Knuckles gritted his teeth. The other Titans had been captured, and his window of opportunity was running out. He needed something that could penetrate the hardened metal of the container, but Cyborg's arm cannon was currently out of commission. What else could pierce metal as thick as that? The echidna was in the middle of pondering that question when she noticed the shackle holding Starfire's head in place.

"Bingo!" he said. "Star's eye beams could cut through that thing like a hot knife through butter!"

Starfire was startled by the sudden feeling of pressure on her chest. Panicking, she nearly screamed – only to feel two fabric-covered hands caress her face. "Star, calm down," she heard a voice say, its gruff demeanor overshadowed by a gentle whisper. "It's Knuckles, alright?"

"Knuckles?" she echoed, somewhat aware that the Mobian was almost straddling her chest, "What are you doing on top of me?"

"To be honest, I'm sorta feeling a bit like Pinocchio if you catch my drift," she heard him reply. Slowly, she felt the weight come off of her upper body as Knuckles shifted position, placing one foot on top of the Tameranean's chair and the other on the table close to her thigh. "Listen, I'm gonna break this shackle off of your face," the echidna's voice continued. "As soon as you can see, blast a hole the size of Control Freak's fat ass into that containment unit on the edge of the stage. We clear?"

"As my friends would put it, we are crystal," Starfire said, smiling.

Knuckles quickly took a firm grip of the metal brace…and froze up as he heard the sound of a gun being cocked for use. Turning back, he saw Control Freak smiling at him, one of his .45's pointed directly at the Mobian's head. In the moments before Knuckles set up his plan, the Royal Guard had freed the villain from his predicament and he had scooped up one of his weapons in order to prevent the curtain from falling on his stage too early.

"Sorry, no kiss-kiss, no bang-bang," he said, laughing. "The only one who gets to do that around here is me!"

"Sorry, Freak, but I don't think there's a girl alive who could stomach kiss-kissing you, much less bang-banging you," the echidna said, matter-of-factly.

"SHUT UP!" the villain yelled, waving his gun wildly. "You don't get to talk! Now, you are going to take your hand off of Starfire's headgear, get off of my table, turn around, and walk slowly out the exit without a fight – or I promise I'm gonna put one right between your beady little eyes!"

Knuckles' face remained set in stone. "Well, I hope you're a good shot," he said. "You won't get a second chance."

"The hell I won't!" Freak yelled, baring his yellow teeth. "I'll load so up with so much lead you'll set off metal detectors from here to Rangoon!"

"Not happening, Freak Boy," the Mobian said, calmly. "I was listening during your little gun fight. You ran out of ammo in the one. The fact that you didn't bother to pick it up means you're not carrying an extra clip. As for the other one…you got one shot." His brow furrowed. "Better make it count," he finished.

"You know what?" Control Freak said, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter one way or the other. The truth of the matter is that, unless you get out of this building right out, this bullet – last one or not – is coming straight for your head. You might be able to dodge it, but then it's gonna travel right to the back of Starfire's cute little head, and I don't think you could live with yourself with a death like that on your conscience. So, big bad voodoo daddy, what's your plan to get out of this situation?"

The echidna was silent for a moment. Slowly, he took his hand off of the bracket, and sighed.

Control Freak was ecstatic. He had forced the hero into a corner: die, risk letting another die, or leave knowing that all of them would suffer because of it. He couldn't have planned it better himself. But that feeling soon dissipated as he watched Knuckles reposition his hand, knuckles facing towards the stage, and took grip once again.

The Mobian slowly crouched down, his face mere inches from the Titan's. "Star, no matter what happens, take out that tank the moment you see light, okay?" he whispered to her.

"Hmm-hm," she said, acknowledging what she had heard.

With that done, Knuckles stood back up, and focused his attention back on fat sad sack in front of him. "To answer your question," he said, defiantly, "I guess that…I'd just have to catch the bullet."

The echidna's defiance stunned Control Freak. This was not how it was supposed to go. Knuckles, it seemed, had turned the situation upside down, and now had him forced into a corner: let the Titans go, or make good on his threat. There seemed only one true option available, and he was going to take it.

"Then so be it," he said, almost regretfully.

And then…came the shot.


	9. The Last Laugh

Beast Boy and the other Titans watched in horror as Control Freak fired his shot. A split second later, Knuckles' head snapped back, the momentum from the blast carrying his body head over heels over the top of Starfire's chair.

Watching the scene play out before her, Raven's stomach turned over. She had never witnessed someone die before her very eyes in that manner. Aqualad and Tremm had looked away the moment they heard the gunshot. Now they were shaking their heads, eyes closed in grief.

Only Beast Boy continued to stare at the empty spot where the echidna had been standing mere moments before. His mind had trouble coming to terms with what his eyes had shown it. It just didn't seem possible…

Control Freak snickered to himself as he lowered the gun. "Bulls-eye!" he said. "Fastest hands in the West!"

Walking to the edge of the stage, he surveyed the captive Titans before him. He had not only managed to avert a rescue mission led by Beast Boy, but had taken down one of the toughest men in the galaxy with ease. Thing were going well…until he found himself staring into a pair of emerald-green eyes attached to the body of a very angry Tamaranean! In Knuckles' final act, he had wrenched away the shackle from over her face, leaving Star with one weapon at her disposal.

"Uh-oh…" Freak said. "I didn't wanna have to do this, but…" Quickly raising his gun, he pointed it straight at the girl's head. Starfire let out a little gasp, freezing up for a second at the sight of the weapon. This was all the time the villain needed. Sneering, he pulled the trigger.

CLICK. The Mobian's prediction had been correct. Control Freak was out of ammo – and out of time.

"Star!" Robin yelled, bringing the Titan back to reality. "Take out the container!"

"My pleasure," the girl said, letting loose with a massive blast of alien energy. The beams slid right through the alloy housing of the storage unit, leaving a gaping hole. The drop in pressure resulted in the release of a massive amount of energy. As the shockwave ripped through the building, the shackles on every table sprung free as its' electronic lockdown mechanism fizzled out. Meanwhile, the other Titans watched as their captors quickly shorted out, and collapsed on the ground. Free from the imposing force, Aqualad straightened up, and breathed deep.

"Let that be a lesson to you,' he quipped, stepping over the prone figures of the Royal Guard.

As the teens recomposed themselves, an ominous shudder ran throughout the building.

"Uh guys, what was that?" Speedy asked, glancing around nervously.

The answer came in the form of a steel girder crashing down onto the middle of the stage.

"I think it's time to leave," Robin said, sternly.

With that the Titans headed for the door. Only Beast Boy remained, standing at the edge of the stage and looking down. He had never lost someone before in that manner. Granted, he had watched Terra literally self-destruct against Slade, but this just seemed unfair. Knuckles shouldn't have even been there. This wasn't his fight. Still, he came anyway.

The boy's mind snapped back to attention as he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. Looking up, he found Raven staring back at him.

"Beast Boy, we have to get out of here!" she said. "He didn't sacrifice himself so that we could follow along with him."

The shape shifter let out a sigh, and allowed the girl to lead him to the exit.

* * *

Control Freak slowly headed towards a back door exit. Such a feat would have been much easier for him if he weighted less…and didn't have 180 pounds of dead weight hanging off his back.

"Come on, old man!" he shouted at Mad Mod, who still remained unconscious from his beating. "You gotta wake up! If you don't, we're both gonna DIE!"

Suddenly, a flaming girder blocked the path to the door. The ancient dust of the building had proven rather flammable, and the building was erupting into an inferno around the two villains. Panic setting it, the fat man looked around, trying to locate a new exit. Suddenly, he noticed Robin over by the other exit, ushering his friends out the door.

"Hey, Robin!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

The Boy Wonder turned in the direction of the voice, and noticed Freak waving his arms wildly.

"Hey man, no hard feelings about everything that happened tonight, right?" the villain said, a weak smile on his face. "I mean, you wouldn't just leave me here to die, would ya?"

Robin smiled, despite the seriousness of the situation. 'Hmm, it would be poetic justice just to let the two of them go out like this,' he though to himself., watching the fat guy practically suffer a nervous breakdown in realization of his impeding death. 'But then again, there's been too much life lost tonight and, like it or not, I couldn't live with myself with their deaths on my conscience.'

Reaching down, Robin opened up a secret compartment in the right side of his left boot. His hand quickly came back with an explosive boomerang – a sole backup should he ever be separated from his utility belt. Tonight had proven his theory. With a swift toss, the Boy Wonder launched the projectile into the wall that he himself had blown down a few months before. The resulting explosion left a gaping hole in the structure large enough for the villains to escape. Stunned, Control Freak looked back at the Titan.

"Go on, get out of here!" the boy said. "We'll catch ya some other time!"

The look of Freak's face was one of solemn appreciation. Moving as quickly as his body would let him, he and Mod disappeared out the newly-acquired exit and into the night.

* * *

"Damn me and my good-natured self," Robin muttered, shaking his head as he headed out into the night.

As the burning warehouse slowly collapsed in on itself, the two Titan teams finally had time to collect their senses.

"Wow, that was too close for comfort," Speedy said breathlessly, his hands upon his knees.

"You got that right," Bumblebee said, smoothing her hair back out.

As the heroes recounted their rather interesting night, Beast Boy couldn't bring himself to look away from the flames. His eyes teared up as he replayed that fateful shot over and over again in his mind. The Titan had dealt with death before, especially during his time with the Doom Patrol, but he had never seen a friend taken away like away right in front of him. The damn echidna had just stood here, taking the blast full on instead of risking Starfire's life. He had sacrificed himself to free the others, the way that a true hero would have wanted to go out. Knuckles' gamble had worked, but the price was too high for BB to accept. Slowly, he dropped to his knees, and covered his face with his hands.

The boy's breakdown quickly caught the attention of the other Titans. Aqualad was the first to approach him, with Tremm following close behind. Kneeling down, he placed a hand on the hero's shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Hey, man," he began, his voice almost a whisper, "I think you should know that everybody else is grateful for what you did tonight. I mean, you proved yourself once again that you can be leadership material. We did good work tonight, BB. We bet the odds, and that's saying a lot. Nobody's gonna fault you for that."

The Titan's eyes were still down-trodden. "It's not right man," he said, quietly. "Him going out like that…it's just not right…"

Slowly, the rest of the Titans came and stood behind the three, and watched in silence as the fire department rolled up to put out the fire. Because of this, none of them noticed the dirt shifting around in a small garden on the opposite site of the street. Nor did they notice the dirt-stained figure crawling slowly up from a subterranean tunnel.

As Beast Boy wiped his eyes, he felt the presence of his friends surrounding him. It was then that he heard a gruff voice on his left say, "So, you, uh, guys wanna have a weenie roast?" Whipping his head to the side, BB found himself staring into the face of a very-much-alive Knuckles the Echidna!

"DUDE!" he cried, wrapping his arms around the Mobian in a big hug, "I thought we lost you!"

The echidna smirked. "Hell, I ain't going down just yet," he said. "I got a show tomorrow!"

"But…how did you survive that gunshot?" the green hero asked as he got back to his feet, the event once again replaying in this mind.

Knuckles chuckled, and held out his right fist, fingers down. As he opened his hand, a small metallic CLINK resonated on the ground in front of the teens. "I told him I'd catch the bullet," he said. "And you know what I learned tonight?"

"What?" Robin asked, as the others shrugged their shoulders.

The Mobian took a deep breath. "Catching bullets hurts like HELL!" he bellowed out, shaking his hand in pain. This sent the Titans all into a fit of relieved laughter.

'Well, it's good to know you're still among us," Robin said, smiling. "Thanks for your assistance tonight…although I still can't figure out how you managed to find us."

"Huh…oh…" Knuckles said, tapping his forehead. "I almost forgot. I think this is your."

A moment later, the echidna tossed an object into the Boy Wonder's hands. Looking down, he recognized his communicator. "I thought I lost mine during the scuffle," he said, thoughtfully. "Where'd you find this?"

"Under an dumpster next to the movie theater," the Guardian said. "BB was transmitting a mayday on it, and it caught my attention." He shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "Looks like I was in the right place at the right time," he added.

That remark prompted a couple weird looks from the Titans. 'What exactly were doing at the theater in the first place?" Raven asked.

"Would you believe that I was planning to see a movie?" the echidna quipped, smiling.

Beast Boy smiled as well. "I guess great minds do think alike," he said, beaming.

Knuckles slowly turned his gaze onto the shape shifter, an 'I don't believe you just said that' look on his face. "BB," he deadpanned. "Don't make me hurt you."

The Titan gave a weak smile to his friends. "Well, I thought it was funny," he said sheepishly.

"You would," Knuckles said, jokingly. Beast Boy just rolled his eyes.

"Listen, I gotta get going before people start noticing me and begging for autographs," the Mobian said. "I'm part of that big stand-up comedy show they got here tomorrow night, and I gotta get back to the hotel and practice."

"Hey, is Bubsy gonna be there?" BB asked, referring to Knuckles' fellow Freedom fighter and Mobian stand-up comedy legend Bubsy A Bobcat.

"Yeah, and Eddie, too," the echidna said, before adding, "You know, if he had known what was going on here tonight, he would have brought a video camera."

"Just was we would have needed," Raven grumbled. "Video of our predicament posted up all over YouTube."

"Just be thankful it was me who found you guys," Knuckles said, laughing. "While we're on the topic of comedians, you guys should come down to the show tomorrow night. Bubsy's the one in charge of putting it on, he can get you in. Afterwards, we can catch up on old times, okay?"

Beast Boy smiled. "It's a date," he said.

"Cool," the echidna said, flashing the bullhorns sign.

Suddenly, Robin's ears picked up the sound of footsteps coming there way. As he looked up behind the echidna, he noticed a strange figure moving towards their direction. As he tensed up, he wasn't sure as what was about to happen. Knuckles, on the other hand, simply chuckled to himself.

"Speak of the devil…" he said.

* * *

Robin breathed a sight of relieve as Bubsy came into view. Despite his furry appearance, the man was actually half-human. Because of that, he stood 5' 8" – nearly a foot and a half taller than the average Mobian. He also bore the characteristics of a Mobian Prophet – massive strength, reduced aging, and invulnerability to any weapon known to man. He was also old enough to be any one of the Titans' father, as he had recently celebrated his 43rd birthday. Still, he was one who lived for the moment, and had captured the attention of many fans on Mobius with his brand of humor. He had met the Titans previously during a show in Titan city, and had befriended them as well as helped take Johnny Rancid down a peg when he tried to steal the bobcat's spotlight.

Looking over at the smoldering ruins, the cat let out a whistle. "Well, that definitely looks like your handiwork there, Knux," he said, the slight tinge of a New Jersey accent lingering in his voice.

"It's not all mine, but I did my fair share," Knuckles stated.

"I'll bet," Bubsy said. "So, what the hell all when down here tonight?"

That question left the Titans at a loss for words. None of them left exactly how they should word what they had all been through without sounding silly. Knuckles, however, took it upon himself to propose an answer.

"Well, Control Freak and Mad Mod hatched a hair-brained scheme to drain energy from the Titans here to power some highly dangerous work-in-progress, and I just happened to catch wind through a lost communicator about what was going on," he explained to the bobcat. "Basically, it was just another screwed-up night at the office for the Titans. Let's just say that I helped them get out of a 'ticklish situation'."

Bubsy crossed his arms over his massive chest. "Is that so?" he said, pursing his lips together. "Well, I'm sure they appreciated that."

"More than you'll ever know," Raven said, sighing.

"Say, Bubsy," Knuckles interjected, "I took it upon myself to invite our friends here to tomorrow's show. You think that'd be cool?"

"I'd say so," the bobcat said, "but I think I can one-up you." Looking over at Beast Boy, he smiled. "Somebody sent me a tape of you doing a stand-up bit at the Kings of Comedy show here in town," he said. "I hear you were the opening act."

"Yeah, well the promoter wanted a little bit of local talent, and I was the only one who applied," BB said, shrugging his shoulders.

"That's cool," the cat said, nodding his head, "but I'm wondering – how you like to have your own time slot tomorrow during the show?"

Beast Boy's jaw nearly fell to the ground. "You-you serious?!" he stuttered, overwhelmed by the offer.

"Sure am," Bubsy said, grinning. "I figure you get on stage at one of my shows, you'll become a bon-a-fided superstar."

Beast Boy was on the verge of melting. Turns out this night had gone better for him than he had ever imagined. Going on stage with three of the galaxy's biggest comic stars was a dream come true! "That is the coolest!" he yelled, jumping up and down.

"Least I can do," the bobcat said. "Now, Knuckles and I gotta get back to the hotel. Sally's gonna get all butt-hurt if I come back without him."

"All right, let's roll," the echidna said. Taking one last look at the Titans, he pointed his finger. "See you guys tomorrow, right?" he called out.

"As long as we don't see you first," Robin said, smiling.

As the Mobians left for the comfort of the hotel, Cyborg was preoccupied with finding out where his car was. "Man, I hope I didn't leave the keys in it!" he said, frantically. Suddenly, he noticed a tow truck pulling up on the opposite side of the street. "Hey," the driver said, leaning out the window, "I got a call from some guy named Andrew Cardigan* to pick up a car and deliver it to a Mr. Cyborg."

"That's me…"the Titan trailed off as he saw his car hanging off the back of the truck "…and that my BABY!"

While Cyborg was busy planting kisses on his car's hood, Raven shook her head, think back to what Knuckles had said about their night. "'Ticklish situation'…" she muttered. "Why didn't he just tell him straight out?"

"Beats me," Robin said, looking up at the moonlit sky. "Well guys, the movie theater's closed and it's getting late. Anybody else have an idea on what we should do now?"

"Ooo, I know! Why don't we all go back to Titan Towers and have ourselves a big tickle fight?" Beast Boy said, grinning from ear to ear.

The jaw of every Titan in the vicinity fell open in utter shock and disbelief. One look at BB's face told them that he wasn't kidding.

"How could you suggest such an activity after all that we have got through on this night?!" Starfire said, her eyes glowing with green energy. Many of the other Titans echoed their sentiments in agreement…expect Robin, who put up his hands.

"On hold on, hold on," he interjected. "Maybe Beast Boy's on to something."

"HE IS?!" the others chimed in unison, stunned that the Boy Wonder would be agreeing with BB after all that had been through.

"Sure," the Titan said, glancing around. "I mean, I almost certain that every one of us here besides Cyborg is pretty ticklish." Locking eyes with Raven, he gave her a playful wink. "Don't you think, Rae?"

"…Riiiiiggghht," the girl said, a mischievous smile forming on her lips as she caught on to Robin's drift.

Beast Boy, meanwhile, was staring at the two of them in befuddlement. "Wow," he said, scratching his head. "I didn't really you guys would bite. Dude, this is cool!"

"There's just one little stipulation," Robin said as he set up for the kill.

"What's that?" BB had bought it all – hook, line, and sinker.

The Boy Wonder grinned. "I think the first people up should be anyone who hasn't already been tickled tonight." he said. Looking back at Raven, he chuckled softly. "Do you happen to know anybody like that, Raven?" he asked.

Now it was the Goth girl's turn to laugh. "Oh I think so, Robin," she said. "In fact, I'm staring at three of them right now."

BB, Aqualad and Tremm quickly came to a conclusion on who the three people Raven was talking about were. BB's little joke had backfired on all of them.

"Uh-oh," Lad said, pulling at his collar.

"Dude, not cool," Beast Boy said, his eyes wide.

[* Bubsy A. Bobcat's birth name. When he went looking for Knuckles, Bubsy found Cyborg's car and had it picked up in order to make sure it wasn't stripped...again.]

* * *

As the night sky over Titan City set in, a small echo of laughter could be heard emanating from the shores of Titan Tower. It seemed that, despite everything that had occurred that night, Beast Boy, Aqualad and Tremm learned just a little too late that the joke had ultimately been on them.

THE END

* * *

"Well, you managed to get your rocks off tonight," Bubsy said as he and Knuckles walked the quiet streets of Titan City.

"In a way," the echidna said, smirking. "Still, I sorta wish I could have been there to see those devices active. I've always imagined what Raven would look like in the middle of hysterical laughter."

"I'm sure Eddie would have as well," the bobcat said, referring to his friend and stand-up comic Eddie DelGado, a high-energy individual who had a thing for tickling and Goth chicks. Putting both together would have been his ultimate wet dream. "But until Ms. Raven lets anyone's fingers do the walking all over her body by her own accord, your imagination is where it'll have to sta…"

Bubsy trailed off as he noticed a late 1906's Jaguar coupe parked on the side of the road, its' detail done up in the fashion of the British flag. "Say, isn't that Mad Mod's car?" he asked.

"It's either his or Austin Powers'," Knuckles said.

An evil grin came to the face of the bobcat. "Come on," he said, nudging the echidna. "I got an idea."

* * *

"Are you telling me that all of my robots were wiped out?" Mod growled in disbelief as he stomped his way back to his car. After finally regaining consciousness from Knuckles' beatdown, he had awoken to finding the entire plan going up in smoke along with the building.

"Uh, duh!" Control Freak said, trying to keep pace with the much slender man. "If they hadn't, do you think we'd be on the outside looking in?"

"Don't talk to me right now!" the British villain yelled, trying to shoo away the fat man with his hand. "All I want is to go home and forget this fiasco ever happe…"

Mod looked on in disbelief as he saw not one, but two furry creatures camped around his car. The taller one seemed to be pouring a bucket of some sort of fluid into the passenger seat of the coupe. Determined to get to the bottom of this, he stormed his way over to the hooligans.

"All right, what in the world are you cretins…"he stopped as he caught sight of his beautiful car, seemingly filled with a pancake batter-like substance. "Wh-what have you done to my car?!"

"Hey Mod!" Bubsy said, putting down the bucket. "We just filled your car with AB Foam!"

"You filled my car with what?!" the old man said, on the verge of a heart attack.

"AB Foam," Knuckles echoed, motioning his hand towards the vehicle like he was Vanna White. "It's an amazing substance. It reacted quickly with moisture and expands to fill every nook and cranny of its' container. Best of all, once it hardens, nobody will ever be able to steal your vehicle again!"

"Of course, it goes without saying that _you_ will never be able to drive this car again, either," Bubsy added, smiling. "On the up side, this car will never disappear on ya – unless, of course, the Incredible Hulk meanders into town and picks it up over his head, but that's not likely to happen."

Mod was flabbergasted. All he had done was provide help to a pathetic little villain. Why was all this bad stuff happening to _him_?

"Wh-why did you do this?" he stammered, intent on receiving an answer.

Bubsy's smile soon faded, and he walked up right into the British man's face. "Because you crossed a line,' he began, his voice deep and gravelly. "You decided to capture and torment a couple of good kids – good kids that I am honored to have as friends. Now, regardless of the fact that you tickle tortured them, I can not overlook this fact."

"Wait…How did you know we were tickling them?" Control Freak said, stunned.

The bobcat smirked. "Knuckles doesn't use the term 'ticklish situation' unless there was tickling involved," he said matter-of-factly. "As for you two, you have just learned a valuable lesson tonight - and that lesson is, if you mess with the Titans, you mess with us. Spread the word to your cronies."

As Bubsy back off, Knuckles grinned at the two villains, who looked a lot like deer caught in the headlights. "We also videotaped this entire thing. Feel free to send it to your friends, so they know what'll be coming the next time they so much as breath on a Titan."

What that, the two took off running into the night. As they passed the camera, they left one last parting message:

"Don't mess with the Titans!" Bubsy yelled.

"That's what you get!" Knuckles said, jumping into the shot.

As the two headed off back to prepare for the following day's festivities, Mod was left to stare at his $52,000 paperweight. "I hate my life," he said to himself.

"I hate your life too, dude," Freak said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Oh, shut up." Mod said, shaking his head in defeat. "Just shut up."


End file.
